By Javier Molero/ jmolero@eurohoops.net
Dusan Alimpijevic has won his second BKT Eurocup Coach of the Year award. The Besiktas coach, who also manages the Serbian national team, has been named the best this season. He previously won the award in 2021-22 while coaching Bursaspor.
Alimpijevic, 40, has turned the Turkish powerhouse into one of the teams to beat in the competition. They will play Strasbourg in the Eurocup final.
Per the press release: Having led Besiktas GAIN Istanbul to the BKT EuroCup Finals for the first time with a 16-5 overall record, Dusan Alimpijevic has been named the 2025-26 EuroCup Coach of the Year by his own peers. This marks the second time that Coach Alimpijevic has won the award. He was previously chosen as the Coach of the Year in 2021-22, when he led Frutti Extra Bursaspor to the EuroCup Finals.
Besiktas has posted solid numbers at both ends of the court. It ranks third in scoring (92.5 PPG), leading the competition in two-point shooting (58.4% 2FG) and second in three-point shooting (39.4% 3FG), as well as being third in assists (21.8 APG). Defensively, it held opponents to really low shooting percentages inside the arc (49.9% 2FG). Alimpijevic made everybody feel important, too, with eight players averaging 7.0 points or better this season.
Coach Alimpijevic finished first overall in voting for the Coach of the Year award, followed by Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse’s Frederic Fauthoux, Turk Telekom Ankara’s Erdem Can and Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana’s Zvezdan Mitrovic in second, third and fourth, respectively.