A New Chapter Begins, but the Pécs Spirit Remains

The team is back at work. Following the summer break, preparations for the 2026/2027 season officially got underway on Monday. The roster and coaching staff are not yet complete: Ágnes Studer, Ágnes Török and Kinga Josepovits are preparing for the World Cup with the Hungarian national team, as is our assistant coach, Dalma Iványi. Nadija Smailbegovic is currently attending a training camp with the Serbian national team, while our two international players, Zada Williams and Tina Cvijanovic, will join the team at the end of the month.

Three new players have joined our reshaped roster this summer. American forward/center Zada Williams can play both the four and five positions, Slovenian international Tina Cvijanovic arrives in Pécs from the Italian top flight, while Luca Szücs returns to the club after several years away. Petra Csirke and Anna Ikládi, both members of last season’s U23 championship-winning team, will also have the opportunity to prove themselves as part of the senior roster.

Our head coach, Zeljko Djokic, said he has been through a particularly difficult summer. Shortly after winning the Hungarian championship, the club had to face the reality that it would ultimately not be able to compete in the EuroLeague, something that affected him deeply both professionally and personally.

“We are building a new team, but I believe that women’s basketball has always had a place in Pécs, and always will. That is what I am trying to use as motivation, both for myself and for the players. We have new, young players coming in, including some who are stepping up from our academy. At the same time, it is very important, and something we should be proud of, that we have retained a core group of players that we can build around.

We waited until the very last moment to see what would happen with the EuroLeague. It was very difficult to accept that we would ultimately not compete, because so many clubs across Europe dream of having such an opportunity. Once it became clear that we would not be playing in international competition, our situation in the transfer market changed completely as well. A club competing in the EuroLeague can attract a different level of player, while recruiting becomes much more difficult without European competition. But I am happy that we ultimately managed to reach agreements with two international players. We want to build a strong group and create a team that people will enjoy watching again.

It is very important to me that we have key Hungarian players who decided to stay with us. Ágnes Studer, Ágnes Török and Kinga Josepovits are among them. Kinga is also one of the most talented young players in Europe. The fact that these players have stayed with us motivates me as well to do the best job I possibly can and try to get the maximum out of this team.

We have never built our team around just one player. There is always an opportunity for someone to become a leader through their performances on the court. Last season, for example, Julia Reisingerová contributed enormously throughout the year and helped carry the team forward. That door is now open for Kinga as well, and I believe she needs to take advantage of that opportunity.

For me personally, perhaps the most important thing now is to come back and rediscover myself in basketball. The past three months have been very difficult for me, and I have to be honest about that. Basketball and sport are not simply a job for me; they are my life and my second family. My goal now is to find myself in this environment again, and I am sure the players will help me a great deal with that.”

According to Sporting Director Péter Éles, the biggest challenge of the summer was that the club had to make major decisions during a period of uncertainty.

“As Sporting Director, I have to work with the resources available to us and build the team accordingly. If I had to sum up one of the lessons of the summer very briefly, I would say that we became champions at the wrong time. Several people said that immediately after we won the title, and there is certainly some truth to it.

We had to make our decisions at a time when several of our partners were going through changes. At the university, for example, the new rector only took office on July 1, while we had to make our decision regarding EuroLeague participation in June. There were also changes in leadership at some of our other partners and state-owned companies, which simply meant there was not enough time for all the necessary sponsorship agreements and guarantees to be put in place by the deadline.

That certainly does not mean our long-term outlook is negative. At the moment when the decision had to be made, however, it would have been irresponsible to do anything other than decide to sit out international competition this season.

What I want now is for us to complete this season properly and remain financially stable with our reduced budget. We do not want to abandon the principles we have followed over the past few years. We will once again enter the league with two international players, just as we have in the last two seasons, and we want to continue giving significant opportunities to young players developed in our academy.

Every player who attended our first practice has a connection to our academy. As long as we have the academy behind us and it continues to develop players capable of establishing themselves at senior level, we have a strong foundation. Naturally, the quality and depth of the rest of the roster will always be influenced by our financial resources, but as long as we have this local core, this academy core, we have something to build on.

Personally, I do not want to set a specific finishing position or result as our target for this season. There is one very important objective we definitely have: to get through the season with financial stability and to integrate our new young players into senior basketball. Then we will see how far that can take us.

To be honest, we have not paid too much attention to how our opponents have been building their teams this summer. We have focused primarily on ourselves. Let the season begin, let us remain financially stable, and I believe that if we stay true to our principles, things will turn out well.

Fortunately, we still have plenty of players who decided to stay, and there are many people within the club with whom and for whom it is worth continuing this journey. We will keep working for them and for this community.”

For Petra Csirke, the first practice was an especially important moment. After stepping up from the U23 championship-winning team, she is beginning preseason preparations as a member of the senior roster for the first time.

“This will be my first season with the senior team, so I am really excited about it. Joining the defending champions does not feel like a burden to me at all; it is a huge source of motivation. It means a lot to be part of a team like this. I will work every single day to improve as much as possible and contribute as much as I can to the team. First and foremost, I want to get the most out of myself in every practice. If I get the opportunity to play in games, I want to give my best there as well and help the team in every way I can.

We want to show that no matter what happens around us, we are a team. We fight for one another, for our supporters and for the whole city of Pécs.”

The coaching staff has divided the six-week preparation period into three phases. The opening two weeks will focus on laying the foundations, with Zeljko Djokic looking to establish from the outset the work ethic expected of a championship team. In the next phase, Zada Williams and Tina Cvijanovic will join the team, along with Nadija Smailbegovic following her return from the Serbian national team training camp. The roster will then become complete after the World Cup, when Ágnes Studer, Ágnes Török and Kinga Josepovits return to Pécs.