One of the world's oldest sports clubs, 103-year-old Galatasaray Cafe Crown, reasserts its prominence on the basketball court at the Final Eight in Turin. In 1911, basketball was introduced to Turkey within the walls of the Galatasaray Lycee, the Istanbul high school from which the club takes its name. Ahmet Robenson, a physical education teacher in Galatasaray high school in 1911.Robenson, who also became a Galatasaray S.K. president later, helped this new sport,basketball to be known which became popular soon. Galatasaray is the pioneer in Turkish basketball history, and baskeball had always been very important for the club. Former president of the club, Özhan Canaydın is a former player of basketball team. However, in recent years club has been focused on football section and basketball section seeks to revive the successful eras in its bright history. Basketball did not become a formal section of the Galatasaray sports club until the early 1930s, but it soon found instant success in the form of three straight Istanbul League titles from 1933 to 1936. Galatasaray continued to dominate Turkish basketball by winning 16 Istanbul League titles and 11 Turkish championships between 1940 and 1966. Galatasaray was also an challenger in the early years of continental competition, reaching the eighthfinals twice during the European Cup’s first seven editions, in 1961 and 1964. Another Turkish League title arrived in 1969 and a Turkish Cup in 1970, but the trophy run dried up over the next 15 years, even though Galatasaray was good enough to play European competitions during a handful of seasons. In 1985, Galatasaray returned to the top domestically by winning both the Turkish League and President's Cup titles. Its return to the Euroleague in 1986 was cut short by a preliminary-round loss against eventual champion Cibona Zagreb, however. Galatasaray defended its Turkish League title in 1986 but again could not extend its success beyond the next season’s Euroleague preliminary round. Galatasaray's last Turkish League title came in 1990, when Paul Dawkins and Michael Scearce led the team. In 1995, David Henderson and Levent Topsakal helped Galatasaray add another Turkish Cup to its trophy case. Since then, Galatasaray has remained a strongly competitive club in Turkey, becoming a perennial playoff team and making eight consecutive Korac Cup or Saporta Cup appearances between 1993 and 2001. Last season, Gerald Fitch, Fatih Solak and Jeff Graves led Galatasaray to fourth place in the regular season and a quarterfinal sweep of rival Besiktas Cola Turka in the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Fenerbahce in the semis. This season, Galatasaray has made the most of its ULEB Cup debut, tying for first place in one of only two regular season groups that produced a pair of Final Eight teams each.
