Aykon Ted Ankara is set to make his Eurocup debut this season, becoming the sixth Turkish team to play the competition. Founded in 1954 as a multi-sport club TED Ankara Kolejliler Spor Kulubu, the team reached the Turkish first division in 1966. The team was known as Kolej until the mid 1990s and managed to stay in the Turkish first division until 1977. Unlike other Turkish multi-sport giants like Fenerbahce, Galatasaray or Besiktas, Kolej did not have a football section and basketball was the main sport in a club that also has volleyball, swimming, karate and handball sections. Kolej made its European club competitions debut in 1973-74, losing a two-way Cup Winners' Cup against Italian side Pallacanestro Torino. Kolej went down to the Turkish second division in 1977, only to return to the elite for three more seasons in 1979. The team was on and off the Turkish first division since that moment, competing in the second division from 1985 to 1990 only to claim its spot in the elite from that moment to 1995. Kolej did really well in the early 1990s, ranking fourth in the Turkish League in 1991-92 and reaching even higher the following season, finishing third overall. In those years, Kolej reached the Korac Cup qualifying rounds in three consecutive seasons, from 1991-92 to 1993-94. With Victor Berejnoi as its main star and youngsters Haluk Yildirim and Tolga Tekinalp starting their careers, Kolej reached the 1991-92 Korac Cup's second elimination round, collecting two narrow wins against KK Zadar. Its best Korac Cup run came in 1993-94, downing Nemetali-Ograzden of FYROM and Telindus Ostend of Belgium before losing against Alba Berlin of Germany on points differential. Still, its last Korac Cup game, a 78-70 home win against Alba, remains as its best result in European club competitions. The team continued to spend some years in the Turkish second division since it was relegated at the end of the 2008-09 season. Despite winning its group, the club missed a good chance to promote in 2010-11, losing in the second divsion quarterfinals against Selcuk University. It all changed in 2011-12, as the then-called Optimum TED Kolejliler worked its way back to the Turkish elite behind a strong performance from Hakan Yapar and Olumuyiwa Famutimi. Last season, Ankara put together a strong team led by Jovo Stanojevic, Kirk Penney and Vanja Plisnic and the team made it to the Turkish League playoffs. Ankara won Game 1 of the best-of-three quarterfinal playoffs against mighty Anadolu Efes Istanbul, which finally rallied to win the series. The arrival of veteran bomber Clay Tucker and big man Vladimir Golubovic bring even more excitement to its fans, which will see Ankara compete against some of the best Eurocup teams in 2013-14.