FC Bayern Basketball and coach Dejan Radonjic will go their separate ways. The German champion and the 49-year-old Montenegrin will end their successful cooperation after almost two years. This is the result of a meeting between the club managers and Radonjic. Dejan Radonjic had taken over the Bavarians in April 2018 shortly before the play-offs and led them to two BBL championships (2018, 2019) during his tenure.
"In professional sports tough decisions are sometimes necessary, and this is definitely one of them," Bayern Sports Director Daniele Baiesi commented afterwards. "Dejan deserves the highest respect for the work he has done for us, but for us it was now time to make a change. He is a very good coach and he will always have our appreciation".
Managing Director Marko Pesic said: "The first thing I would like to say about working with Dejan now and in the future is that I and we all have great respect for what he has achieved here at FC Bayern. Dejan took us over in a very difficult situation and won the 2018 title, which is so fundamentally important for our development. this was followed by defending the title and a good premiere season in the EuroLeague. We have always analysed the situation around the team together, also in the past weeks. We have now come to the conclusion that we need a new impetus and approach. We have successfully walked a long road together and we are very grateful to him for that.
Assistant Coach Oliver Kostic takes over against ZSKA
Co-coach Oliver Kostic takes over the coaching of the Bavarian basketball players until further notice. Starting Tuesday morning, he and the proven coaching team with Emir Mutapcic, Philipp Köchling and Igor Jovovic as well as athletics coach Dragan Gacevic will prepare the team for the next home game on Friday (10.1., 20:30) in the Audi Dome against EuroLeague champion ZSKA Moscow.
Kostic, 46, has been with the Bavarians since 2013, primarily as a coach in the junior program. With the Munich-based U19 team, the Serbian won the club's first German championship in the youth sector in 2015. In 2016 he was coach of the young second team, which advanced to the 2nd Bundesliga ProB. In the past, he has worked as an assistant coach in the professional sector in Rome, Belgrade and at Mitteldeutscher BC, and as head coach in Bulgaria (Sofia). When Radonjic took over the Bavarians in April 2018, Kostic moved up from the ProB team to its staff.
Photo: Oliver Kostic
