Wednesday’s draw for the 11th season of the FIBA Basketball Champions League (BCL) brought an intriguing and familiar scenario for Rytas Vilnius. The hands of Rytas players Kay Bruhnke and Ignas Urbonas determined that the defending Lithuanian champions will begin their regular season campaign in Group A—the very same group that brought great success to the Vilnius-based team last year.
Drawn from Pot 1, Rytas will face Nanterre 92 (France), Sabah (Azerbaijan), and Trabzonspor (Turkey) this autumn.
The new Basketball Champions League season is scheduled to tip off on October 6, 2026. The regular season will feature 32 teams divided into eight groups of four. This year, Lithuania will have two representatives on the BCL stage: national champions Rytas Vilnius are joined in international play by Juventus Utena, who were placed into their group from Pot 3.
Following the draw ceremony, Rytas head coach Nedas Pacevičius shared his thoughts on the upcoming opponents, the team’s objectives, and the season ahead:
Last year, Group A was highly successful for Rytas. Looking at the upcoming opponents, can we expect the same outcome this time?
It’s difficult to give a definitive answer because every year the draw and the teams are completely different. Although last season in this group was successful for us, I don’t think we should look back at last year’s history. This season, everything starts from a clean slate. We will simply move step by step, focusing game by game, without concentrating too much on our opponents’ names.
How do our main group stage rivals look overall? How are they building their rosters, and where does Rytas need to step up to advance?
For now, we haven’t yet delved deeply into our future opponents’ new signings or roster configurations. At the moment, we can speak more about their performances last season—for instance, we followed Nanterre slightly more closely, and we are also aware of the head coach change at Sabah Baku. However, we will postpone a detailed opponent analysis for later, as our entire attention and main focus is currently directed toward our own roster construction.
As the defending champions, can Rytas feel like the leader of this group?
It is definitely too early to speak about that. As I mentioned, team names on paper don’t guarantee anything. It is a fact that opponents will face us, as champions, with extra motivation, but we cannot afford to feel comfortable or relaxed just because we hold the title. If we want to be group leaders, we must prove it in every single game, fighting for every centimeter of the court. We must remain humble, patient, and demonstrate our superiority through actions on the hardwood, not through loud pre-season statuses.”
Two Lithuanian teams will play in the BCL this season. What kind of impulse does this give to Lithuanian basketball, and what does it say to Europe?
It is great to see more and more Lithuanian teams competing in European tournaments and I’m not just talking about the Champions League.. Obviously, this will make our country’s basketball name sound even louder across Europe. I always want to wish the best of luck to all Lithuanian teams representing our country on the international stage.
Have you already looked at the opponents Utena received? How do you view their upcoming international debut in the Champions League?
Yes, I watched the draw ceremony and followed all the groups live. I think Juventus Utena received a fairly competitive group, but there are definitely opponents that will be beatable for them. We are very happy that another Lithuanian team is playing in this tournament. It is a big positive for our basketball, so we just want to wish them the best of luck.
The draw was conducted by Kay Bruhnke and Ignas Urbonas. Won’t the players get some heat for the opponents they drew? Could the results have been more favorable?
We will only be able to answer this question accurately once the group stage and the entire season are over—that is when we’ll see if these lots were successful for us. As for giving the guys a hard time, we might hand out some friendly scolding a bit later, or maybe we won’t at all (smiles). Ultimately, everything is in our own hands. We just need to prepare well and prove our worth on the court.
The FIBA Basketball Champions League is scheduled to start on October 6th of this year. Teams will compete not only for the Champions League title. The top two teams of the league will also receive invitations to join the highly anticipated NBA Europe project, set to launch in 2027.
Rytas’ detailed BCL game schedule will be released shortly. If you haven’t secured your place in the stands yet, we invite you to do so and support the team live.