Rapla KK

Rapla KK, also known as Avis Utilitas Rapla for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Rapla, Estonia. The team plays in the Latvian–Estonian Basketball League. Their home arena is the Sadolin Sports Hall.

Avis Utilitas Rapla
Avis Utilitas Rapla logo
LeaguesKorvpalli Meistriliiga
Latvian–Estonian Basketball League
Founded2004 (2004)
HistoryRapla KK
(2004–present)
ArenaSadolin Sports Hall
Capacity958[1]
LocationRapla, Estonia
Team colorsRed, White
   
PresidentJaak Karp
Head coachArnel Dedic
Websiteraplakk.ee

History

In 1996, Korvpalliklubi Rapla (Basketball Club Rapla) was founded as a division of the Rapla Sports School. Rapla Korvpallikool (Rapla Basketball School) was formed in 2004.[2]

In 2010, Rapla moved to the new Sadolin Sports Hall and were promoted to the top-tier Korvpalli Meistriliiga (KML). Coached by Indrek Ruut, they finished the 2010–11 regular season in sixth place and reached the playoffs, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by TTÜ/Kalev, losing the series 1 game to 3. In 2011, Rapla joined the Challenge Cup competition of the regional Baltic Basketball League (BBL) for the 2011–12 season, but failed to advance past the group stage. In 2012, Rapla reached the Estonian Cup final, but lost to Rakvere Tarvas 64–81.[3]

In 2014, Aivar Kuusmaa was hired as head coach. The team finished the 2014–15 regular season in third place. In the 2015 KML Playoffs, Rapla defeated Valga in the quarterfinals, but lost to Kalev and finished third after beating Rakvere Tarvas 2 games to 1 in the third place games. Rapla finished third again in the 2015–16. The team finished the 2016–17 regular season in third place with Thomas van der Mars being named Most Valuable Player (MVP). In the 2017 KML Playoffs, Rapla defeated Valga 3 games to 0 in the quarterfinals and University of Tartu 3 games to 1 in the semifinals, reaching the finals for the first time in their history, but lost the series to Kalev 0 games to 4.

Sponsorship naming

The team has had several denominations through the years due to its sponsorship:

  • Piimameister Otto/Rapla: 2010–2012
  • TYCO Rapla: 2012–2015
  • AVIS Rapla: 2015–2017
  • AVIS UTILITAS Rapla: 2017–present

Home arenas

Players

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Avis Utilitas Rapla roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.Age
PG 1 Estonia Välb, Kaarel 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 18 – (2004-09-12)12 September 2004
SG 4 United States Cheese, Tyler 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 84 kg (185 lb) 26 – (1996-11-13)13 November 1996
SG 6 Estonia Ratas, Jan Märten 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 75 kg (165 lb) 21 – (2001-09-07)7 September 2001
PG 7 Estonia Laane, Rait-Riivo 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) 78 kg (172 lb) 29 – (1993-05-24)24 May 1993
SG 8 Estonia Ruubel, Markus 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 82 kg (181 lb) 21 – (2002-02-08)8 February 2002
SG 11 Estonia Sunelik, Indrek 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 23 – (2000-02-09)9 February 2000
C 14 Bosnia and Herzegovina Tomić, Obrad 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 29 – (1993-04-08)8 April 1993
PF 15 Ukraine Davydiuk, Anton 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 96 kg (212 lb) 30 – (1992-05-06)6 May 1992
SG 21 United States Stephens, Kendall 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 28 – (1994-11-11)11 November 1994
SG 32 Estonia Kilk, Karmo 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 88 kg (194 lb) 18 – (2005-01-23)23 January 2005
SG 33 Estonia Ruut, Marek 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 25 – (1998-04-02)2 April 1998
SF 34 Estonia Niits, Tormi 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 94 kg (207 lb) 24 – (1998-05-19)19 May 1998
SF 45 Estonia Kaldre, Sven (C) 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 92 kg (203 lb) 31 – (1991-10-31)31 October 1991
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Estonia Kustas Põldoja
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured
Updated: 28 October 2022

Depth chart
Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3
C Obrad Tomić
PF Lock Wan Lam Tormi Niits
SF Sven Kadre Kendall Stephens Erik Pärnapuu
SG Tyler Cheese Indrek Sunelik Kardo Kilk Marek Ojamäe
PG Rait-Riivo Laane Markus Ruubel Kaarel Välb

Coaches

Season by season
Season Tier Division Pos. W–L Estonian Cup Regional competitions
2008–09 3II liiga 1st 23–3
2009–10 2I liiga 2nd 16–8
2010–11 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 6th 14–22 Quarterfinalist
2011–12 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 4th 17–19 Quarterfinalist BBL Challenge CupRS2–8
2012–13 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 4th 18–19 Runners-up Baltic Basketball LeagueRS1–9
2013–14 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 7th 10–23 Quarterfinalist Baltic Basketball LeagueRS3–9
2014–15 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 3rd 23–14 Quarterfinalist Baltic Basketball LeagueT163–7
2015–16 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 3rd 24–16 Round of 16 Baltic Basketball LeagueT168–6
2016–17 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 2nd 23–15 Quarterfinalist Baltic Basketball LeagueT168–6
2017–18 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 3rd 21–17 Baltic Basketball LeagueQF5–7
2018–19 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 6th 1–3 Latvian-Estonian LeagueQF13–17
2019–20 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 2nd [lower-alpha 1] Latvian-Estonian League5th12–12
2020–21 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 3rd 5–6 Latvian-Estonian League4th14–13
2021–22 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga Quarterfinalist Latvian-Estonian League9th12-14

Trophies and awards

Trophies

Estonian Championship

Estonian Cup

  • Runners-up (1): 2012

Individual awards

Notes
  1. League suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References
  1. "Sadolin Spordihoone". spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  2. "Ajalugu" (in Estonian). Rapla KK.
  3. "Tarvas võitis korvpalli Eesti karika" (in Estonian). Postimees Sport. 22 December 2012.
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