Rapla KK

Rapla Korvpallikool, also known as AVIS UTILITAS Rapla for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team based in Rapla, Estonia. The team plays in the Estonian-Latvian Basketball League and the Korvpalli Meistriliiga (KML). Their home arena is the Sadolin Sports Hall.

AVIS UTILITAS Rapla
AVIS UTILITAS Rapla logo
LeaguesKorvpalli Meistriliiga
Estonian-Latvian Basketball League
Founded1996 (1996)
HistoryKorvpalliklubi Rapla
(1996–2004)
Rapla Korvpallikool
(2004–present)
ArenaSadolin Sports Hall
Capacity958[1]
LocationRapla, Estonia
Team colorsWhite, Red
   
Team managerJaak Karp
Head coachArnel Dedić
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 newly built 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 one game to three. In 2011, Rapla joined the Challenge Cup competition of the regional Baltic Basketball League (BBL) for the 2011–12 season. In 2012, Rapla reached the Estonian Cup final, but lost to BC 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 BC Valga/Maks & Moorits in the quarterfinals, but lost to BC Kalev/Cramo in the semifinals and finished third after beating Rakvere Tarvas two games to one 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, the team defeated BC Valga in the quarterfinals in a three-game sweep and Tartu Ülikool three games to one in the semifinals, reaching the finals for the first time in their history, but lost the series to BC Kalev/Cramo (0–4).[4]

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

Home arenas
  • Rapla Sports Hall (2008–2009)
  • Alu Sports Hall (2009–2010)
  • Sadolin Sports Hall (2010–present)

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) 30 – (1993-04-08)8 April 1993
PF 15 Ukraine Davydiuk, Anton 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 96 kg (212 lb) 31 – (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

Head coaches
  • Estonia Indrek Ruut 2008–2014
  • Estonia Aivar Kuusmaa 2014–2018
  • Estonia Toomas Annuk 2019–2021
  • Spain Lluís Riera 2021–2022
  • Croatia Arnel Dedić 2022–present

Season by season
Season Tier Division Pos. Estonian Cup Regional competitions
2008–09 3II liiga 1st
2009–10 2I liiga 5th
2010–11 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 6th Quarterfinalist
2011–12 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 4th Quarterfinalist BBL Challenge CupRS
2012–13 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 4th Runner-up Baltic Basketball LeagueRS
2013–14 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 7th Quarterfinalist Baltic Basketball LeagueRS
2014–15 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 3rd Quarterfinalist Baltic Basketball LeagueT16
2015–16 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 3rd Second round Baltic Basketball LeagueT16
2016–17 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 2nd Quarterfinalist Baltic Basketball LeagueT16
2017–18 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 3rd Baltic Basketball LeagueQF
2018–19 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 6th Estonian-Latvian Basketball League7th
2019–20 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 2nd[lower-alpha 1] Estonian-Latvian Basketball League5th[lower-alpha 1]
2020–21 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 3rd Quarterfinalist Estonian-Latvian Basketball League4th
2021–22 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 6th Quarterfinalist Estonian-Latvian Basketball League9th
2022–23 1Korvpalli Meistriliiga 5th Quarterfinalist Estonian-Latvian Basketball League6th

Trophies and awards

Trophies

Estonian League

Estonian Cup

  • Runners-up (1): 2012

Individual awards

Notes
  1. The season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    References
    1. "Sadolin Spordihoone". spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 1 March 2022.
    2. "Ajalugu". raplakk.ee (in Estonian). Archived from the original on 23 October 2023.
    3. "Tarvas võitis korvpalli Eesti karika". Postimees Sport (in Estonian). 22 December 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
    4. "Kalev/Cramo krooniti üheksandat korda Eesti meistriks, Raplale esimene hõbemedal". Delfi Sport (in Estonian). 22 May 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
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