U-BT Cluj-Napoca

[13] Whilst the Universitatea Cluj multi sports club was founded in 1919, the basketball team was only established in 1947, coexisting for about a year with its equivalent at the Bolyai University, before their merger in December 1948.

Therefore, this period was marked by a battle for local supremacy between Știința and teams like Dermata (later renamed Flamura Roșie), ASA Cluj and Metalul, The Red Caps often falling short against their more established rivals.

This result kickstarted two decades of amazing performances in the top flight, spearheaded by the talents of emblematic players for the history of the club, like Horia Demian, Imre Vizi, Mihai Albu, Gheorghe Roman and Matei Rührig.

[2][15] The communism years were a time when the Romanian basketball landscape was dominated by Steaua and Dinamo Bucharest, teams which were closely tied with the army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs respectively.

The turn of the decade found Universitatea back in the top flight, with a young Gheorghe Mureșan starring alongside other players that were going to play an important role for the club in the years to come.

This was made possible by some marquee signings: Mihai Sinevici, Bruno Roschnafski and Mircea Cristescu; all national team players, cumulated with a progress in training and preparations under the coaching duo of Gheorghe Roman and Liviu Morariu.

It did not take long for the results to show on the court, the students establishing themselves as title contenders during the 1990–91 season, while also managing to defeat Panionios Athens (a strong representative of Greek basketball at that time) in the first round of the FIBA Korać Cup.

[2] Their performances during the previous campaign would bring a new premiere for The White and Blacks: their first ever participation in the FIBA European Cup, entering to compete in the second round of the 1991-92 season against Pau-Orthez.

With the presence of the best two centers in the league in their roster (Ghiță Mureșan and Bruno Roschnafski), and the addition of Marcel Țenter at point guard, Universitatea won the first title in their history after a play-off final against Dinamo Bucharest, becoming the first team from outside the capital to be crowned as Romanian Champions.

[21] During that campaign, Studenții suffered some setbacks, with short and long-term injuries keeping key players (Sinevici, Cristescu, Olpretean) out of action for some matches.

[25] Other players from former Yugoslav countries would join the club in the following years; like Predrag Mijušković, Zoran Krstanović, Miljan Medvedj and Branko Ćuić, while LeVar Seals became the first ever American to play for Cluj, in 2005.

[1][21] The following season, the students (now playing under the name U-Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca) one-upped themselves in European competitions, performance facilitated by a number of signings, including Marcel Ţenter, who (like Roschnafsky the previous summer) returned to the club from Germany.

Finishing the regular season of the 2006–07 FIBA EuroCup Challenge first in their group, with four wins and two losses, the team from Cluj reached the quarterfinal stage, where they lost both legs of their clash against Apollon Limassol.

Following the 2006–07 season, Bruno Roschnafsky left the club in order to form his own basketball team: BC Gladiator, while Marcel Ţenter retired as a player, becoming one of Perišić's assistant coaches, alongside Dorin Pintea.

[29] Domestically, the influence of the American head coach showed on the court, U-Mobitelco finishing the regular season of the league championship with ten wins on the bounce.

In their place, the club signed no less than six new foreign players, including Adrian Majstrovich and Leon Henry; who joined from the New Zealand NBL, Aleksandar Glintić from Serbia, and Matt Gibson; who played the previous campaign in Venezuela.

[33] Unfortunately, the on court chemistry between the new signings was difficult to achieve, U-Mobitelco missing two of their primary objectives early in the campaign, by being eliminated from the FIBA EuroChallenge by EWE Baskets Oldenburg, and from the Romanian Cup by Asesoft Ploiești.

Adrian Majstrovich left at the beginning of November, after just three months spent with the club, while Glintić and Mike Kinsella were sidelined with injuries, both of them leaving before the end of the calendar year.

[38][37] The winter break saw the return of Zoran Krstanović from the Netherlands, while American center Terrence Roberts and Croatian guard Damir Milačić were added to the team's roster.

[39][40][41] Unfortunately, a 79–72 defeat against Gaz Metan Mediaș in the final game of the regular season meant that U-Mobitelco would enter the play-off from the fifth position, without home-court advantage.

Miljan Medvedj returned from CS Otopeni, David Lawrence joined from Pitești, while Vladan Jocović was a late roster addition at the end of August.

[69] The team remained largely unchanged compared to the previous season, "U" Mobitelco strengthening their roster through the arrivals of Claudiu Fometescu from Dinamo Bucharest and Miloš Pesić from Elba Timișoara.

[84] Although "U" Mobitelco began the series, played in a best-of-seven format, without home-court advantage, the team managed to win Game 1 on their rival’s court with a score of 79-89.

[88] The match, played in front of 4,000 spectators at the Horia Demian Sports Hall, was a tense affair, marked by many missed shots and turnovers on both sides, remaining evenly balanced until the final seconds.

He then launched a shot from beyond the halfway line, which banked in to set the final score at 64-61, securing the fourth championship title in the history of the Cluj team and their first in fifteen years.

[91] The draw placed the Cluj team in a challenging group alongside France’s Élan Chalon, Belgium’s Antwerp Giants, and Russia’s Enisey.

[95][96] In the Romanian Cup, “U” Mobitelco was once again eliminated early by Gaz Metan Mediaș, despite securing a 56-55 victory in the second leg at the Horia Demian Sports Hall.

[104] To bolster their roster, Cluj signed Jerome LaGrange as a point guard and Phillip Jones, an American center also capable of playing as a power forward.

[108] However, they were swept in the semifinals by BC Timișoara, losing all three games, and ended the championship in fourth place after falling to Gaz Metan Mediaș in the bronze-medal match.

[113] The club holds the attendance record for an indoor sporting event in Romania, performance achieved for the first time during their two home matches against MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg in the quarterfinals of the 2021–22 Basketball Champions League, when capacity crowds of 10,000 filled the BTarena in both games.

Gheorghe Mureșan
Timeout at a 2021–22 Champions League game.