Basketball: Poupet, the Villeurbanne coach, extends

The Villeurbanne basketball club announced on Wednesday that it had extended the contract of its current coach Pierric Poupet for two years, now hired until June 2026. Aged 39, Poupet, a former leader during his playing career, had replaced the Italian Gianmarco Pozzecco on January 6, becoming the seventh coach of Asvel since its president Tony Parker took power in 2014 and the third for this season which began with TJ Parker on the bench (who had already held the position for six months in 2018 for an interim).

Pierric Poupet was the assistant to both the latter and Pozzecco. With Poupet at its head, Asvel recorded a record of six wins for nine defeats in the Euroleague, the team remaining 17th (out of 18). Villeurbanne is currently ranked 3rd in the French championship (behind Monaco and Paris), performances highlighted by the Rhone club in its press release to justify this extension. “Pierric was able to convince all the managers and shareholders with his serenity, his accuracy and his lucidity. He will now be able to build over time while keeping in mind the main objective of this season: the conquest of a 22nd French champion title,” said Asvel.

“The players like to play for him, the fans like to see the team play, and our results have never been better in the Euroleague since he has been there. It was natural to continue the adventure with him, he is a coach for the future with strong ideas and a very in-depth knowledge of basketball,” reacted Tony Parker.

The latter, after the dismissal of his brother TJ from his position as coach, nevertheless envisaged the recruitment of big names in international basketball, in particular the Canadian Gordon Herbert or the Italian Sergio Scariolo, respectively coaches of Germany, champion of the world title, and Spain. Also requested, Frédéric Fauthoux preferred to decline Asvel's proposal to extend, on April 6, to Bourg-en-Bresse, unhappy finalist of the Eurocup against Paris.