Sarunas Jasikevicius was voted the 2024–25 EuroLeague Coach of the Year, becoming the first Lithuanian head coach to win the award and the first person to be named EuroLeague champion as a player and best coach.
Sarunas Jasikevicius of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul has been voted the 2024–25 Aleksander Gomelskiy Coach of the Year, becoming the first Lithuanian head coach to receive the prestigious honor.
In one of the closest races in recent memory, Jasikevicius was chosen by his peers, fellow EuroLeague head coaches, as the recipient of the season's top coaching award.
Despite dealing with a string of injuries throughout the campaign, Jasikevicius guided Fenerbahce to a second-place finish in the regular season with a 23–11 record.
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul / Schedule
FC Bayern Munich
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
Paris BasketballBy receiving the Gomelskiy Trophy, Jasikevicius has once again made history. He becomes the first person to win the EuroLeague as a player and later be named the competition's best coach.
Jasikevicius captured four EuroLeague championships as a player—with FC Barcelona in 2003, Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2004 and 2005, and Panathinaikos in 2009—and was named Final Four MVP in 2005.
Now 49, "Saras" has also won domestic championships in Lithuania, Spain, and Turkiye as a head coach.
Jasikevicius edged Georgios Bartzokas of Olympiacos Piraeus in the voting. Gordon Herbert of FC Bayern Munich and Tiago Splitter of Paris Basketball tied for third.
Other coaches receiving votes included Luca Banchi (Anadolu Efes Istanbul), Joan Penarroya (FC Barcelona), Oded Kattash (Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv), Ioannis Sfairopoulos (Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade), Zeljko Obradovic (Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade), Pierric Poupet (LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne), Ergin Ataman (Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens), and Vassilis Spanoulis (AS Monaco).
Despite high expectations, Jasikevicius faced immediate adversity. In Fenerbahce's season opener, star guard Scottie Wilbekin suffered a season-ending ACL injury just 125 seconds into the game.
Additional key players—Wade Baldwin, Devon Hall, and Dyshawn Pierre—missed significant time due to injuries. Only Nigel Hayes-Davis, Bonzie Colson, and Nicolo Melli played in all 34 regular-season games, and just eight players appeared in more than 22.
Through a series of roster changes—including the mid-season additions of Errick McCollum and Jilson Bango—Jasikevicius maintained his team's competitive edge.
Fenerbahce posted multiple six-game winning streaks, highlighted by key road victories at Virtus Segafredo Bologna and Olympiacos. The team tied for the most road wins in the league (11) and remained resilient despite ranking in the bottom half of several statistical categories.
Jasikevicius is now the 13th different recipient of the Coach of the Year award. Only Zeljko Obradovic (three times), Georgios Bartzokas (three), Ettore Messina (two), Pablo Laso (two), and Dimitris Itoudis (two) have won it multiple times.
Other past winners include Pini Gershon, Dusko Vujosevic, Xavi Pascual, Dusan Ivkovic, David Blatt, Ergin Ataman, and, most recently, Chus Mateo.
Looking ahead, Jasikevicius will aim to join an elite group by winning the EuroLeague both as a player and head coach.
Only three individuals have achieved that feat: Lolo Sainz, Armenak Alachachian, and the most recent, Svetislav Pesic, who won as a player in 1979 and as a coach in 2003.
