On July 4, UNICS announced the signing of forward Sergei Toropov, who spent the last two seasons at Zenit St. Petersburg. The deal with the 34-year-old Russian was signed on a 1+1 basis. Toropov became Kazan’s fifth newcomer in the off-season. The “Championship” is considering the transfer of the forward to the finalist of the last season of the VTB United League.
We have already mentioned that the core of UNICS has been formed, and now the Kazan team continues to complete the squad, making specific reinforcements to increase the depth of the squad.
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Sergey Toropov was born in Nizhny Novgorod, but began his basketball career in the Saratov Avtodor system. As part of the club from the banks of the Volga, the forward twice won the Superliga-1. He also played for Severstal, Temp-SUMZ, Samara, MBA and Spartak-Primorye. At the end of the 2017/2018 season, Toropov first joined the team of his hometown, Nizhny Novgorod. He also spent the next season at NN, playing in the United League and the Champions League. Toropov started the 2019/2020 season at Primorye Spartak, but in February 2020 he returned to Nizhny.
The 2021/2022 season was a truly breakthrough season for Sergei. He became an indispensable part of Zoran Lukic’s rotation and received an invitation from the United League to the All-Star Game. After significant progress, Toropov attracted the attention of top clubs and signed a contract with Zenit St. Petersburg in the off-season. In Javier Pascual’s system, Sergei did not become the main player, but worked his minutes to the maximum. For two seasons, he played 65 matches for the blue, white and sky-blue and during this time he became a two-time winner of the VTB United League Super Cup, a winner of the Russian Cup, and also a winner of bronze medals in the United League. In the summer of 2024, he moved to UNICS Kazan.
Sergei Toropov
UNICS forward
“I am very happy to be in such a successful team as UNICS. I am grateful to the club president Evgeniy Borisovich Bogachev and coach Velimir Perasovich for this opportunity. I look forward to meeting new partners and, of course, Kazan fans. I will do my best to help the team achieve maximum results in the VTB United League. Cheers to UNICS!”
Kazan have signed another player to create depth in the squad. After Toropov’s career period at Zenit, one gets the feeling that he was not able to prove himself 100% and still has some, if not potential, then reserve, despite his advanced age. Sergei is a versatile player who can certainly be useful both in attack and defence. He is also very disciplined, it is clear that working with Zoran Lukic and Javier Pascual was not in vain. Now he will work with another emotional and demanding mentor – Velimir Perasovic.
Sergei Toropov
Photo: Press service of BC Zenit
UNICS simply needed a “big” one after the departure of Andrei Vorontsevich, Ivan Lazarev and Mark Tikhonenko from the team. Kazan president Evgeny Bogachev spoke very flatteringly about Toropov, calling him a high-class basketball player, which, in fact, predetermined the fact that the “greens” made him an offer. In addition, the head of UNICS said that the recruitment of the squad is almost completed and noted that the club still has one foreign basketball player to sign.
The UNICS squad, like last season, is very balanced, which will obviously allow the Kazan team to once again fight for the main goal – the United League Champions Cup. And newcomer Sergei Toropov could well become one of the key figures in the fight for the title. Kazan signed an experienced basketball player who will not flinch at the right moment, which increases their chances of success.
