Changes in the Zenit Basketball Academy teams

Following the expiration of the contracts, the following players are leaving the Zenit Basketball Academy:

Alexander Kolosov, Forward (2017-2024)

Alexander is a product of the St. Petersburg basketball school. Kolosov has gone through the entire reserve training system of the blue-whites since 2017, starting with the Children’s Youth Basketball League team. With Zenit, Alexander became a champion and bronze medalist of the VTB Youth League. Last season, he participated in 35 Russian Superleague matches for Zenit-2, averaging 3.3 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 0.3 assists per game.

Maxim Ilvovskiy, Forward (2023/24 season)

Maxim holds both French and Russian citizenship. He was trained at Strasbourg, where he played in both the main and youth teams.

Before the start of last season, Maxim joined Zenit-2. In the Russian Superleague, he averaged 17 minutes on the court, with stats of 6.6 points and 3.7 rebounds. His best game for the blue-whites was on November 13, 2023, against Dynamo Vladivostok, scoring 24 points in 21 minutes on the court. In that game, Ilvovskiy made 8 out of 9 three-point attempts, becoming the X-factor in the St. Petersburg team's victory.

David Didenko, Forward (2023/24 season)

Born in Russia, David moved to the USA with his family in 2010, where he started playing basketball at the school level, then at the collegiate level, playing for the Georgia Institute of Technology and then for the University of Tennessee at Martin. In 2022, Didenko decided not to finish his studies and went to Kazakhstan, where he became one of the leaders of Barsy Atyrau: 9.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. His performance helped the team become silver medalists of the 2022/23 national championship season.

In 2023, David returned to his homeland and joined Zenit-2, making the Russian Superleague semifinals with them. In the championship, the forward averaged 14 minutes on the court, scoring 3.4 points and 2.1 rebounds.

Ali Alperen Ayaz, Guard (2023/24 season)

Ali is a product of UNICS. In the 2022/23 season, the guard was a leader in the Kazan youth team, averaging 12.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 3.0 steals in the Children’s Youth Basketball League. Ayaz helped the white-greens to finish sixteenth in the tournament, after which he moved to Zenit's youth team.

Last season, the shooting guard debuted in the VTB Youth League, participating in 11 games and posting the following stats: 3.4 points, 1.0 rebounds, and 1.9 assists. As part of Zenit U21, Ali became the VTB Youth League champion; the team defeated CSKA-Junior (77:74) in the final.

The contracts of strength and conditioning coach Kirill Antyukh, who spent the past season with Zenit-2, and assistant head coach of Zenit U19 Igor Telezhkin have also expired.

***

Zenit Basketball Club thanks each player and coach for their contributions to the results of the blue-whites reserve teams and wishes them success in their future careers!