Basketball at the U-League (Korean: 대학농구 U-리그), known as Korean University Basketball League (Korean: 한국대학농구리그) before being merged into the U-League in 2018,[1] is the main college basketball competition in South Korea. It is sanctioned by the Korea University Basketball Federation (KUBF; Korean: 한국대학농구연맹), which oversees college basketball in South Korea, and the Korea University Sports Federation (KUSF).

Basketball at the U-League
Organising bodyKorea University Basketball Federation
Korea University Sports Federation
Founded2010, as Korean University Basketball League
2018, as U-League
CountrySouth Korea
Number of teams12 (Division 1, men)
9 (women)

Teams

edit

The following universities and colleges are members of the Korea University Basketball Federation:

Women

edit

[4]

Competition

edit

The teams compete in a league/play-offs format with teams designated "home" or "away", mirroring the professional KBL and WKBL. Players who are registered with a team are eligible to participate in the rookie draft if they decide to become professional basketball players.

For the men's competition, only KUBF Division 1 members participate in the KUSF U-League.[5] The U-League is considered to be the elite competition and a stepping stone to the KBL as a majority of the players from Division 1 teams will declare for the KBL rookie draft. Teams from Division 2 member institutions participate in the KUSF Club Championship. Both Division 1 and Division 2 teams also participate in the older MBC Cup competition organized by the KUBF.

The women's teams participate in the KUSF U-League. They also compete in the MBC Cup, along with club teams (non U-League members).

Results

edit
Year Championship
(winner)
Championship
(runner-up)
Championship
MVP
Regular season champion Regular season MVP
2011 Kyung Hee University Yonsei University Park Rae-hoon (Kyung Hee University) Kyung Hee University Kim Min-goo (Kyung Hee University)
2012 Kyung Hee University Chung-Ang University Kim Jong-kyu (Kyung Hee) Kyung Hee University Kim Min-goo (Kyung Hee University)
2013 Korea University Kyung Hee University Lee Jong-hyun (Korea University) Kyung Hee University Kim Jong-kyu (Kyung Hee University)
2014 Korea University Yonsei University Lee Seoung-hyun (Korea University) Korea University Lee Seoung-hyun (Korea University)
2015 Korea University Yonsei University Kang Sang-jae (Korea University) Korea University Moon Seong-gon (Korea University)
2016 Yonsei University Korea University Cheon Ki-bum (Yonsei University) Korea University Lee Jong-hyun (Korea University)
2017 Yonsei University Korea University Heo Hoon (Yonsei University) Korea University Kim Nak-hyeon (Korea University)
2018 Yonsei University Korea University Lee Jung-hyun (Yonsei University) Korea University Jeon Hyun-woo (Korea University)
2019 Yonsei University Sungkyunkwan University Kim Kyung-won (Yonsei University) Yonsei University Kim Kyung-won (Yonsei University)

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the full season was not played between 2020 and the first half of 2022.

Year Championship
(winner)
Championship
(runner-up)
Championship
MVPs
Regular season champion
2020[a] Yonsei University Korea University Park Ji-won (Yonsei University)
Han Seung-hee (Yonsei University)
Yonsei University
2021[b] Yonsei University Korea University
Dongguk University
Lee Jung-hyun (Yonsei University)
Shin Seung-min (Yonsei University)
Yonsei University
2022 Korea University Konkuk University
Kyung Hee University
Dankook University
Moon Jeong-hyeon (Korea University)
2023 Korea University Yonsei University Park Mu-bin (Korea University)

Women

edit
Year Championship
(winner)
Championship
(runner-up)
Regular season champion
2015 Yong In University Gwangju University Gwangju University
2016 Gwangju University University of Suwon Gwangju University
2017 Gwangju University University of Suwon Gwangju University
2018 University of Suwon Gwangju University University of Suwon
2019 Pusan National University Dankook University Pusan National University
2020 Pusan National University Vision College of Jeonju Pusan National University
2021[c] Pusan National University
Pusan National University
Dankook University
Dankook University
Gwangju University
Dankook University

History

edit

The Basketball U-League was founded in 2010 (men's competition) and 2015 (women's competition) as part of the Korea University Sports Federation's effort to organize college sports into a more streamlined format similar to the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States.[6] The U-League system also includes five other sports.[7]

The Korea University Basketball Federation has existed since 1964 and college teams competed in the Korean Basketball Association-sanctioned National Basketball Festival (Korean: 농구대잔치). At that time, basketball was still an amateur sport and teams were all sponsored by corporate companies or universities. When the professional league (Korean Basketball League) was founded in 1997, the senior teams all became professional teams, leaving only the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps's Sangmu basketball team and college teams to compete in the tournament.[8] With the founding of the U-League, a large number of college teams opt not to send their teams to the National Basketball Festival or only send their freshmen.[9]

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Only two rounds were played. League positions were determined by combining points accumulated from both rounds.
  2. ^ Only three rounds were played. League positions were determined by combining points accumulated from all three rounds.
  3. ^ The season was split into two "rounds" and thus had two winning teams instead of an overall winner.

References

edit
  1. ^ KUSF U-LEAGUE 2018 대학농구 (in Korean). Korea University Basketball Federation. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  2. ^ "팀 — 남대1부" (in Korean). Korea University Basketball Federation.
  3. ^ "팀 — 남대2부" (in Korean). Korea University Basketball Federation.
  4. ^ "팀 — 여대부" (in Korean). Korea University Basketball Federation.
  5. ^ "KUSF 대학스포츠 U-리그 — 참가대학 및 선수 소개" (in Korean). Korea University Sports Federation.
  6. ^ "대학농구 '중위권 싸움' 치열". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). 15 July 2010.
  7. ^ "KUSF University Sports U-League: Introduction" (in Korean). Korea University Sports Federation.
  8. ^ "농구대잔치, 텅빈 그들만의 리그" (in Korean). KBS. 2 December 2008.
  9. ^ "농구대잔치 '빛과 그림자', 상무 역대 최다 8회 우승" (in Korean). BasketKorea.com. 15 February 2015.
edit