site.btaBulgarian Basketball Legend Atanas Golomeev Dies

Bulgarian basketball legend Atanas Golomeev passed away on August 12, 2023, aged 76.

The 2.08 m tall centre was the most decorated Bulgarian basketball player of all time. Included in the European Selection of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) in 1977 in 1977, he was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991 and was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2019.

Born in Sofia on July 5, 1947, he played college basketball at McGill University, with the McGill Redmen, in the 1968-69 season. Fielded in 24 games, he averaged 37.5 points per game, with a single-game scoring high of 57 points.

During his nearly 20-year-long professional playing career (1965-1984), Golomeev was part of three Sofia clubs: CSKA, Levski and Academic, winning ten Bulgarian League championships and four  Bulgarian Cups. He joined Güney Sanayi in Adana, Turkiye, for two seasons between 1981 and 1983 as a competitor and playing coach. He coached Levski Sofia in 1985-1986, leading the team to a Bulgarian League champion's title.

As a member of the senior men's Bulgarian national basketball team, Golomeev entered five EuroBasket championships (1969, 1971, 1973, 1975 and 1977). At the EuroBasket 1973 and EuroBasket 1975, he was the top scorer of the tournament, scoring 156 and 160 points, respectively. He earned EuroBasket All-Tournament Team selections four times (1971, 1973, 1975 and 1977).