Changes in the coaching staff of Zenit's reserve teams

Ahead of the 2025/26 season, there have been several changes in the coaching staffs of the Blue-White-Sky Blues reserve teams. Below is the updated information on the Basketball Academy’s coaching lineups.

Zenit-2

In the upcoming Super League and Russian Cup competitions, the farm team will once again be led by Oliver Popovic. Former basketball player Andrey Semenov has joined the Zenit-2 coaching staff, replacing Dmitry Vavilov as assistant coach. This will be Semenov’s first professional experience as a coach. Evgeny Akolzin has also left the team. The new strength and conditioning coach is Dmitry Shukaev, who has prior experience working in a professional basketball club.

Zenit U21

Roman Knyazev’s coaching staff remains unchanged. Artem Banchikov continues as assistant coach, while Yaroslav Zarovnyatnykh is responsible for physical preparation. Zenit U21 will traditionally compete in the VTB United Youth League.

Zenit U19

The Children's Youth team will continue under the leadership of Dmitry Nikolaev, who last season guided the Blue-White-Sky Blues to gold medals in the Children's Youth Basketball League (U19). Zenit U19 now faces the challenge of defending their title and winning the CYBL gold for the third consecutive time. Senior coach Halit Vagapov also remains on the staff. During the offseason Anton Filatov left the team. He has been replaced by Alexander Mrykhin as the new strength and conditioning coach.