Viola Reggio Calabria

Viola Reggio Calabria is an Italian professional basketball club from Reggio Calabria, in the Calabria region. It was founded in 1966 as Cestistica Piero Viola by judge Peppino Viola, who named it after his late brother Piero. The team began in Serie C, replacing AICS Reggio Calabria, where Piero had played, and finished ninth. Over the following years, it established itself in that division, which was renamed Serie B in 1974–75.

The club reached the professional second division, Serie A2, in 1983. After a mid-table debut, it won the league in 1984–85 and earned promotion to Serie A, though it was relegated after one season. It returned to the top flight in 1989 after three years in Serie A2.

That season was the club’s best: it finished seventh in the regular season before losing in the playoff quarterfinals to Pallacanestro Varese, with Viola’s Dan Caldwell leading the league in scoring. Under coach Carlo Recalcati the next season, the team was relegated again but bounced back by winning Serie A2 in 1991–92.

In the 1992–93 Serie A, it achieved its best finish, sixth place, before a playoff quarterfinal series against Benetton Treviso ended controversially when a buzzer-beating shot that would have tied the decisive game on 18 April was disallowed. Viola made three more playoff appearances over the next four seasons, reaching the quarterfinals in 1994 and the eighth-finals in 1996 and 1997. Another player, Brian Oliver, led the league in scoring in 1995–96.

The original organization, Cestistica Piero Viola, was declared bankrupt in December 1997, though the bankruptcy was later revoked due to irregularities. It was replaced in January 1998 by Basket Viola Reggio Calabria SPA, then later that year by Nuovo Basket Viola Reggio ’98.

After a season in Serie A2 in 1998–99, the club—featuring a young Manu Ginóbili—again reached the playoff quarterfinals, where Virtus Bologna eliminated them. The next season, Ginóbili left, but players like Carlos Delfino and Leandro Palladino arrived, helping Viola avoid relegation and reach the Round of 16 of the 2000–01 FIBA Korać Cup. After another relegation battle in 2002, the team returned to the playoffs in 2003, again losing in five games to Benetton Treviso.