Once again, with the significant help of Matic Burjak, I had the opportunity to speak with an interesting and relevant conversation partner. This time, Asier Alonso Sanz, who works with Cedevita Olimpija’s new partner, Lucentum Basketball HUB, took the time for a conversation for Blokada. You can read his thoughts on the collaboration in the interview below.
Mr. Alonso, could you please introduce yourself and describe your role at Lucentum Alicante?
My name is Asier Alonso Sanz, and I am from Vitoria. I began my basketball career as a player with Tau Ceramica (now Baskonia), eventually making it to the senior team under Coach Dusko Ivanovic. I was later offered the chance to coach, which I embraced enthusiastically, spending many years working with youth teams in the club’s academy.
In 2015, my career shifted as I took on the role of sports director for the Saenz Horeca Araberri team, where I led the team to promotion to LEB Gold and successfully maintained our position in the league. In 2018, I joined Real Betis Baloncesto as a technical director. During my five seasons with Betis (four of them in the ACB league), I had the opportunity to work alongside respected professionals like Juanma Rodriguez from Unicaja Malaga and Berdi Perez, who is now back with Betis.
In 2023, I joined Lucentum Alicante as the sports director, where my responsibilities include overseeing and coordinating strategy for the entire sports division of the club. This includes management of the senior teams (both men and women), the Academy program, which encompasses 19 teams, and the international Lucentum Basketball HUB project.
Could you tell us when and why Lucentum Basketball HUB was founded? What are the HUB’s vision and goals
For many years, dating back to my time with Real Betis, I have collaborated with various clubs, federations, and academies across different countries. Through discussions with Ionuț Georgescu, a Romanian manager I recruited at Betis as a scout and international relations coordinator—and who recently joined Lucentum as our technical director—we realized that one-on-one partnerships often limit and restrict collaborative opportunities. Together, we recognized the need to leverage basketball’s global reach and the strong appeal of our country’s brand in the sport.
With this in mind, we decided to create a platform where professional organizations could come together with a shared focus on growth, exchange of expertise, and development of sports business projects. Lucentum Basketball HUB has already started opening internal communication channels and will be officially launched in early November.
Cedevita Olimpija has a Spanish sports director, Chechu Mulero, was he involved in initiating the partnership or making the first contact?
Yes, Ionuț Georgescu is the coordinator of the HUB and the key person behind this project. He has had a close, long-standing friendship with Chechu Mulero, who is highly respected in Spain for his accomplishments with Valencia Basket. We are thrilled that Chechu has the opportunity to work with a top-tier club abroad, especially one as interesting as Cedevita Olimpija, which competes in both the EuroCup and Adriatic League.
It’s an honor for Spanish basketball to have sports directors, coaches, and specialists who succeed internationally, sharing the methodology and mentality of Spanish basketball. Chechu kindly recommended our project to the Cedevita Olimpija team, and Matko Jovanovic and his staff recognized it as a valuable opportunity—a resource for networking and development. We are very pleased to have Cedevita Olimpija as part of our project.
What do you see as the main benefits for Cedevita Olimpija in being part of the HUB? Additionally, how will the HUB and Alicante benefit from this partnership?
The HUB has already brought together 28 clubs, federations, and academies from 27 countries, along with numerous companies from the sports industry and basketball experts. These specialists will present their services, products, and experiences in workshops, creating valuable learning opportunities for all involved. Each HUB member will now have reliable contacts—”eyes and ears”—in many different countries, which is crucial for scouting, for instance, when identifying promising prospects or simply understanding how other organizations tackle challenges we all face.
In essence, the exchange of knowledge and experience will contribute to the growth and education of all organizations involved. Cedevita Olimpija’s staff will have access to an online platform packed with resources such as materials, case studies, clinics, and master programs, all free of charge, which we provide for clubs. This platform is also open for contributions from all members.
On the flip side, Lucentum Alicante and the other HUB organizations will have the opportunity to learn a great deal from a club like Cedevita Olimpija—whether it’s from their youth program, marketing strategies, professional management, or insights on rebuilding a brand.
What would, in your opinion a successful partnership with Cedevita Olimpija look like in the next three years?
We would love to see Cedevita Olimpija participating in various events, such as tournaments, coaching clinics, and camps organized by HUB members. We also plan to visit Ljubljana for a club tour, where we’ll have the chance to meet the staff and learn from their experiences. Lucentum would be happy to host HUB members for preseason camps and tournaments in Alicante, or during the FIBA windows. Our city is beautiful, and we believe it’s worth visiting.
Another aspect of a successful partnership would be the exchange of young players or coaches, which would enrich our culture and knowledge of basketball.
Could you share some specific examples of how clubs have benefited from being part of the Lucentum Basketball HUB?
Lucentum Basketball HUB is a dynamic platform that allows its members to collaborate on a variety of events, gain valuable insights through shared resources, and participate in educational online workshops and lectures. It also facilitates the creation of corporate partnerships and acts as a springboard for innovative basketball projects, enhancing brand visibility and providing strategic growth opportunities.
Members communicate through a private WhatsApp channel, a LinkedIn group, and monthly online working meetings. Additionally, they can benefit from twice-monthly online workshops and presentations, which feature experts such as coaches, managers, scouts, physical trainers, sports psychologists, and companies involved in basketball-related businesses. These experts present their services and products, offering exclusive benefits to the HUB members. Some potential partners include Menuba, a nutrition platform coordinated by Ignacio Escribano Ott of Baskonia, the European Youth Basketball League (EYBL), Sport Arena, one of the leading organizers of 3×3 events, Tripl3 Shot, the Dr. Dish distributor and event organizer, and the Euroleague Basketball Institute, among others.
Furthermore, Lucentum Basketball HUB members have the opportunity to invite their collaborators to these workshops and presentations, which helps promote the project on a national level and provides valuable educational opportunities in the sports business to their communities.
Which other teams are currently part of the HUB?
The HUB is focused on expanding its global reach and attracting new members from across the world. As more clubs, federations, academies, and basketball professionals join, the potential for collaboration and success will continue to grow, making this initiative a game-changer for the sport globally.
One of our key objectives is to ensure that, by the end of 2025, we have a representative from every European country in the HUB, along with a strong presence from Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Australia.
Currently, we are proud to have clubs such as SIG Strasbourg, Bakken Bears, Würzburg Baskets, Newcastle Eagles, Mens Sana Siena, Tartu, Pyrinto Tampere, Lietkabelis, Riga Zeilli, and Bahçeşehir on board. Additionally, we are joined by federations from Azerbaijan, Tanzania, Antigua & Barbuda, and Barbados, as well as academies like Vampires Dubai, Warsaw Basketball, Sopron Sportiskola, Falcons from China, and LaBomba from Angola.
Do the teams within the HUB actively exchange experiences, scouting insights, and other knowledge?
Definitely! We honestly don’t know what the full potential of this HUB is, but we’re confident that the experience of our members and the professionalism of our special guests will allow us to present and develop valuable opportunities. We believe that the smartest person in the room is the room itself, so we’re excited about the upcoming working meetings where we can put these synergies into action!
Conclusion
An opportunity for an interesting interview has once again emerged from our active forum community. I approached it with the desire for Cedevita Olimpija to successfully build connections with clubs both within and outside Slovenia, as this could play a key role in the development of basketball while also strengthening their own successes. As the saying goes: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together!’
