Less than a month after they became Turkish Airlines Euroleague champions together in Berlin, CSKA Moscow and Dimitris Itoudis have agreed to a new deal that will keep him in place as head coach for the next three seasons. Itoudis, 45, led CSKA to this year's Euroleague title, the seventh in club history and its first since 2008, in just his second season with the club. In that time, he has guided CSKA to a 50-9 Euroleague record and two Final Fours. Under Itoudis, CSKA also won the VTB United League crown last season and currently leads that competition's playoff finals 1-0 over Unics Kazan. His new contract will keep Itoudis on the sidelines for CSKA through the summer of 2019.
"I am very happy that we continue our collaboration and we will be working together for another three years. I am proud for the club I am working in, for the people I am working with. I want to thank and congratulate everybody on the achievements we have all together," Itoudis said. "We are looking forward to new challenges. We are hungry and thirsty – me, all the club and our fans are on the same page. We are looking forward to create new generations on the team that will play on the highest level and defend the club's titles."
"I was asked several times if the result of the Final Four in Berlin will be the decisive one during our talks on the new contract," CSKA president Andrey Vatutin said. "Definitely, the victory was a significant factor but I should say that we made our offer before the championship game. Even without thinking about the victory, I can say that the other result is also essential for the club and our fans. The team plays a spectacular game under Itoudis, the players enjoy being on the court, perfectly understand the goals set by the coaching staff and work together to reach common goals. I think we should not wish something different."
CSKA is Itoudis's first Euroleague club as a head coach, though he was front and center at Panathinaikos Athens for 13 seasons as the assistant coach and right-hand man for coaching legend Zeljko Obradovic. There, Itoudis played a major part in five Euroleague titles, the most by any club in the Final Four era, which began in 1988. His previous head coaching experience includes PAOK Thessaloniki, Phillipos Thessaloniki and M.E.N.T. of his native Greece, as well as Banvit Bandirma in Turkey.