Erdem Can voted as EuroCup Coach of the Year / News - Basketnews.com

Can is the second Turkish coach to be named the EuroCup Coach of the Year, following the first-ever recipient of the award: Oktay Mahmuti of Benetton Treviso in 2009.

Credit: Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

Turk Telekom Ankara's Erdem Can has been rewarded for his impressive coaching performances this season by being voted the 2022-23 Coach of the Year by his fellow EuroCup head coaches.

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Prometey Kamianske Turk Telekom Ankara74-76 Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas Turk Telekom AnkaraWed19:00

In his first year as Turk Telekom boss, Can guided the team to a 13-5 regular-season record and has since led the side to the EuroCup Final following three come-from-behind wins in the playoffs. The Turkish club will visit Gran Canaria on Wednesday for a do-or-die showdown with a place in next season's EuroLeague up for grabs.

Prior to this season, the 42-year-old Can have spent 10 years as an assistant, working under Neven Spahija (2012-13), Zeljko Obradovic (2013-20), and Igor Kokoskov (2020-21) at Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, and under Quin Snyder (2021-22) at Utah of the NBA.

In his hometown of Ankara, where Can began his career as an assistant coach, he has utilized his vast experience to take Turk Telekom to the next level. Despite having had to integrate a whole host of new faces into the roster this season, Can has his team one step away from its first EuroLeague appearance since 1998.

Can is the second Turkish coach to be named the EuroCup Coach of the Year, following the first-ever recipient of the award: Oktay Mahmuti of Benetton Treviso in 2009.

This is also the second successive year that a coach from a Turkish club has earned this honor, as Dusan Alimpijevic of Frutti Extra Bursaspor was recognized for his team's EuroCup Final appearance in 2022.

Aito Garcia Reneses is the only coach to have won the award twice, having done so with Gran Canaria in 2015 and ALBA Berlin in 2019.

The other previous winners were Ilias Zouros of Panellinios in 2010, Aleksandar Petrovic of Cedevita Zagreb in 2011, Jure Zdovc of Spartak St. Petersburg in 2012, Fotis Katsikaris of Uxue Bilbao Basket in 2013, Andrea Trinchieri of UNICS Kazan in 2014, Maurizio Buscaglia of Dolomiti Energia Trento in 2016, Pedro Martinez of Valencia Basket in 2017, Sasa Obradovic of Lokomotiv Kuban in 2018 and Zvezdan Mitrovic of AS Monaco in 2021.

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