By becoming the first Ukrainian team to reach the Turkish Airlines Euroleague, Budivelnik Kiev will write a bright page in a long, rich basketball tradition. Budivelnik may look like a new club to some young basketball fans, but it has a rich tradition and is proud of its history with legendary players like Anatoli Polivoda, Sergei Kovalenko, Alexander Volkov, Alexander Belostenny and Vladimir Tkachenko having worn the team’s colors. Founded in 1962, it was formed out of another club from Kyiv, SKIF, which had started its basketball activities in 1945. The team finished third in the Soviet Union league in its debut season and second in 1965 and 1966, often known as Stroitel Kyiv - Budivelnik's name in Russian. Once Tkachenko, a 2.20-meter center, and Belostenny, 2.16m, arrived to the team in 1973, it became a reference in Soviet basketball and finished second in the domestic league five times between 1977 and 1982. Volkov joined soon after that, but Tkachenko left for CSKA in 1983. Before that, Budivelnik made its debut in European competitions, going all the way to the 1982 Saporta Cup semifinals. Budivelnik fans had to wait until 1989 to see the team lift its first Russian League trophy. Volkov and Belostenny had returned to the club and Budivelnik beat Zalgiris in the final on a series-winning three-point shot by Volkov that was not counted initially. The game went to overtime and Zalgiris won, but Budivelnik protested and two days later, Volkov's eight-meter triple was deemed to be made before the buzzer. Once Ukraine became an independent country, Budivelnik dominated its new domestic competition, winning six consecutive titles between 1992 and 1997 with Grigoriy Khizhnyak, Oleksandr Okunskyy and Leonid Yaylo as its main stars. Budivelnik reached the Saporta Cup eighthfinals in 1997, but lost to Verona. The club underwent financial problems at the turn of the millennium, but bounced back for the 2008-09 campaign by winning the Ukrainian UBL title with Derrick Zimmerman and Tomas Delininkaitis as its main stars. Budivelnik brought in Khalid El-Amin in 2009-10 and he led the team to win the unified Ukrainian League regular season, but Azovmash ended up lifting the trophy in a thrilling five-game series that went down to the wire. Budivelnik started to make some serious noise in the Eurocup in 2010-11, reaching the quarterfinals before losing against Cajasol Sevilla on point differential. Budivelnik, led by Billy Keys, Lamayne Wilson and Dee Spencer, went on to lift the Ukrainian League trophy for the first time in 14 years. Last season, Budivelnik did even better, led by All-Eurocup guard Malcolm Delaney, Leo Lyons and Artur Drozdov. Budivelnik reached the elimination rounds and downed Spartak St. Petersburg in a thrilling quarterfinals series before losing against Uxue Bilbao Basket in the semifinals. Back in Ukraine, Budivelnik dominated the Ukrainian League regular season and went all the way, needing all seven games to defeat Azovmash in the finals. The future looks brighter than ever today, as Budivelnik is set to rewrite Ukrainian basketball history by taking part in the 2013-14 Turkish Airlines Euroleague.