A Eurocup regular with some of the most passionate fans on the continent, PAOK Thessaloniki makes its fifth trip to the competition in the past six seasons. Last season, PAOK progressed to the Eurocup Last 32, reached the Greek Cup semifinals and finished the season strong by claiming third place in Greece after a thrilling 3-1 series win over city-rival Aris. PAOK started as a sports club in Thessaloniki in 1926 and opened its basketball section two years later. The first run was short-lived, but after World War II, PAOK turned to basketball again and the rest is history. The club claimed its first Greek League title in 1959, but its glory years did not come until the 1980s. PAOK reached the Greek Cup final in 1982 and was second in the 1983 Greek League. In 1984, PAOK downed crosstown rival Aris for its first Greek Cup title. Scoring machine Bane Prelevic joined the club in 1988 and took it to a new level. PAOK won the Saporta Cup title in 1991 and in 1992, conquered its second Greek League and got back to the Saporta Cup final. PAOK took part in the 1992-93 Euroleague and battled its way to the Final Four in Athens. Prelevic, Walter Berry and Zoran Savic led PAOK to the 1994 Korac Cup trophy and a return to the Greek League finals, though it lost to Olympiacos amid controversy. PAOK added Greek Cups in 1995 and 1999 and reached the Greek League finals again in 1998 and 2000. The club moved to PAOK Sports Arena in 2000 and appeared in the 2000-01 Euroleague. In its ULEB Cup debut in 2004-05 season, PAOK reached the quarterfinals before being ousted by Lietuvos Rytas. PAOK has not competed for many titles since turn of the century, but has finished third in the Greek League the past two seasons, and now feels confident moving forward and building on those campaigns.