Saša Ciani for the next four seasons in Ljubljana!

The young and talented Saša Ciani, who proved himself in the Belgrade Dynamic jersey last season, is a new player in the Cedevita Olimpija team. Ciani will stay in Ljubljana for the next four seasons.

Cedevita Olimpija has a new talented player in its ranks, whom they can count on in the coming seasons. We are talking about Saša Ciani, who was first seen by the Slovenian basketball public on the big stage in the Koper Primorska jersey, and in the 2020/21 season he wore the jersey of Belgrade’s Dynamic. 18-year-old Ciani will spend the next four seasons in the Slovenian capital.

Saša Ciani was born on May 23, 2003, and comes from Šempeter near Nova Gorica. He made his first basketball steps in Nova Gorica, then moved to the Slovenian coast, and in Koper he was part of KOŠ Primorska and Koper Primorska. In the 2019/20 season, Ciani also played in four ABA League matches for Koper Primorska, but did not register as a scorer, collecting two rebounds in a total of six minutes of play. In the Nova KBM League, he also played in four games, averaging 0.8 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists.

Saša Ciani also wore the Koper Primorska jersey in the U19 ABA League Championship, averaging 16.8 points, 12.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 3.4 blocks and 1.6 rebounds in five games in the 2019/20 season. Ciani was also excellent in the U19 Slovenian National Championship, scoring 18.2 points per game in the 2019/20 season. He demonstrated even better performances in the U17 category, as he averaged 28.4 points per game in 19 matches.

In the previous season, Ciani played in the jersey of Dynamic Belgrade, and in the Serbian National Championship he played in 21 games, spent an average of 9.7 minutes on the floor and scored 2.5 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.

Saša Ciani
Date and Place of Birth: May 23 2003, Šempeter pri Gorici (Slovenija)
Height: 205 cm
Playing position: Power Forward
Career: KOŠ Primorska/Koper Primorska (2018-20), Dynamic VIP PAY (Serbia; 2020/21), Cedevita Olimpija (2021).

Sani Bečirović, Sports Director of Cedevita Olimpija:
“Saša Ciani is considered one of the pearls of Slovenian basketball and we are extremely happy and proud that he has decided to become a part of Cedevita Olimpija, and that we will be able to follow him in Ljubljana in the next four seasons. We have been following his development for the last three seasons, and head coach Golemac knows him well from the time when they were both part of Koper Primorska. Last season, Ciani was given the opportunity to play and progress in Belgrade, but now he will raise his talent and basketball skills to a higher level in Ljubljana, and we will follow his progress with interest, but we believe he can become one of the key players of our team in the forthcoming seasons.”

Jurica Golemac, Head Coach of Cedevita Olimpija:
“I had the opportunity to work with Saša when I was still working in Koper, so we know him very well and we are glad that he joined us in Ljubljana. He is certainly one of the most promising young players in Europe. We have taken a big step towards having great home players in our ranks in the years to come. We will do everything to set him up for quality work and that he will be able to prepare for achieving the highest goals that we will set for ourselves. I think that the mission to bring the best young players in Slovenia has been performed superbly, and at the same time more and more young players will also be part of the senior team.”

Saša Ciani, player of Cedevita Olimpija:
“I am very happy to join Cedevita Olimpija. I know that I made the right decision, as I will be given a place in Ljubljana to progress in my career, as Cedevita Olimpija has excellent conditions and here in Ljubljana it is well taken care of working with young players. I’m very happy, and at the same time I can’t wait to join the team.”

Photo: FIBA.