Ilya Popov (basketball)

Ilya Popov
Popov in 2025
No. 27 – PBC Lokomotiv Kuban
PositionCenter
LeagueVTB United
Personal information
Born (1995-04-04) April 4, 1995
St. Petersburg, Russia
Listed height210 cm (6 ft 11 in)
Career history
2015–2016BC Spartak Primorye
2017–2019BC Nizhny Novgorod
2019BC Enisey
Medals
Gold medal – first placeRussian Cup 2024-25
Silver medal – second placeSwiss Premier League 2018-2019
Silver medal – second placeSuper League 2014–2015, 2021–2022, 2022–2023
Silver medal – second placeRussian Cup 2017-18, 2018-19
Bronze medal – third placeRussian Cup 2014-15, 2021-22

Ilya Dmitrievich Popov (Russian: Попов, Илья Дмитриевич; April 4, 1995) is a Russian professional basketball player.[1]

Career

Popov got his professional start in BC Spartak Saint Petersburg, and has been in the club's system since he was 15 years old. In 2014, after the club lost its professional status, he moved to Nizhny Novgorod.[2]

In January 2015, he went on loan for the rest of the season to BC Spartak Primorye.[3] During his time there, he won a bronze medal at the 2014–15 Russian Basketball Cup, and won a silver medal at the 2014–15 Russian Basketball Super League 1. In February 2017, he signed a three-year contract with Nizhny Novgorod.[4]

In the 2018-2019 season, Popov played in 14 games in the VTB United League, averaging 7.1 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per game. In the FIBA Champions League, he averaged 4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1 assist over 14 games. In February 2019, he and his club mutually agreed to a premature termination of his contract.[5]

He continued his career with BC Enisey, and at the end of the season, he received an invitation from Lions de Genève, who needed reinforcements ahead of playoffs.[6] In the Swiss Championship finals, the team lost three times to Fribourg Olympic Basket and finished as the runner-up in the tournament.[7]

In the 2019-2020 season, he played 18 games in VTB, averaging 4.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 0.7 assists per game. He played in 12 FIBA games, averaging 7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. In July 2020, he signed a new contract with Enisey.[8]

In June 2021, Popov transferred to BC Runa,[9] winning a silver medal in that year's Super League championship,[10] a bronze medal in the Russian Cup,[11] and was named as "Best Center" in the All-Tournament team.[12] In the 2022-2023 season, he won the silver medal at the Super League for the third time.[13] He extended his contract with BC Runa in June 2023.[14] The following year, he joined BC Samara.[15]

In January 2025, Popov was selected by fan vote to participate in the VTB United League All-Star Game 2025.[16] In said game, he played for 7 minutes and 45 seconds, ending with 7 points and 3 rebounds.[17] He left Samara in February 2025,[18] transferring to BC Uralmash Yekaterinburg,[19][20] with his team winning that year's Russian Basketball Cup.

On April 13, 2025, in a game against PBC Lokomotiv Kuban (95-91), Popov set a career record for points (26), and became the 10th player in the history of the league and the first Russian to make 10 or more field goals without a single miss.[21] In July of that year, he joined Lokomotiv-Kuban.[22]

National team

In 2013, as part of the Russian youth team, Popov placed 8th at the European Basketball Championship (U18). In 2015, he participated in the European U20 held in Italy,[23] placing 16th.[24]

In 2019, he was included in the reserve list of Russians to participate in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers.[25] In June, he was invited to an open training camp for the Russian national team.[26]

Personal life

On May 19, 2017, Popov was wed in St. Petersburg to his then-girlfriend Marina.[27]

References

  1. ↑ "Ilya Popov – PBC Lokomotiv–Kuban – official site – Professinal Basketball Club". lokobasket.com. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  2. ↑ "Илья Попов пополнил ряды «НН» - Официальный сайт баскетбольного клуба «Нижний Новгород»". www.old.nn-basket.ru. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  3. ↑ "Баскетбольный клуб «Спартак-Приморье» | Центровой «Нижнего Новгорода» перешел в «Спартак-Приморье»". www.spartakbasket.ru. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  4. ↑ "Илья Попов проведет в «НН» еще три сезона - Официальный сайт баскетбольного клуба «Нижний Новгород»". www.old.nn-basket.ru. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  5. ↑ "Новости". БК "Пари НН" (in Russian). Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  6. ↑ "Илья Попов завершит сезон в «Женеве»". Спортс’’ (in Russian). 2019-05-05. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  7. ↑ "БК «Енисей» (Красноярск) - Илья Попов продолжит карьеру в «Енисее»". basket-enisey.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2025-07-08. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  8. ↑ "Илья Попов продолжит играть в «Енисее»". Basketball Enisey (in Russian). 2020-07-29. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  9. ↑ "Попов продолжит карьеру в Руне". Basketball.ru (in Russian). 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  10. ↑ "«Уралмаш» - чемпион, бронза – у «Темп-СУМЗ-УГМК»! / Российская Федерация Баскетбола". russiabasket.ru (in Russian). 2022-03-03. Archived from the original on 2024-02-29. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  11. ↑ "«Руна» - бронзовый призер Кубка России / Российская Федерация Баскетбола". russiabasket.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  12. ↑ "Первый этап сезона позади. Впереди - решающая часть! | ПБК Руна | Москва | ПБК Руна | Москва". ПБК Руна (in Russian). 2022-04-05. Archived from the original on 2022-04-19. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  13. ↑ "«Уралмаш» - победитель Суперлиги! / Российская Федерация Баскетбола". russiabasket.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2023-05-14. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  14. ↑ "Илья Попов остался в «Руне»". Sports.ru. Archived from the original on 2023-06-19. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  15. ↑ "Илья Попов — в «Самаре»!". bcsamara.com. Archived from the original on 2025-07-08. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  16. ↑ "Первые восемь игроков на Матче Звезд 2025 уже известны! | Единая Лига ВТБ | VTB United League - Официальный сайт" (in Russian). Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  17. ↑ "Единая Лига ВТБ | VTB United League - Официальный сайт" (in Russian). Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  18. ↑ "Единая Лига ВТБ | VTB United League - Официальный сайт" (in Russian). Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  19. ↑ redaktor (2025-02-19). "ИЛЬЯ ПОПОВ - НОВЫЙ ИГРОК БК "УРАЛМАШ" | БК Уралмаш". БК Уралмаш (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2025-02-19. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  20. ↑ "Ilia Popov moves from Samara to Uralmash | VTB United League - Official Website". Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  21. ↑ "Илья Попов набрал 26 очков при 10/10 с игры во встрече с «Локо» | Единая Лига ВТБ | VTB United League - Официальный сайт". vtb-league.com (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2025-04-14. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  22. ↑ "Добро пожаловать, Илья! 👋" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2025-07-04. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  23. ↑ "Иван Викторов и Илья Попов приглашены в молодежную сборную России - Официальный сайт баскетбольного клуба «Нижний Новгород»". www.old.nn-basket.ru. Archived from the original on 2018-07-27. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  24. ↑ "Россия проиграла Великобритании в матче за 15-е место, ЧЕ-2015, Юноши (U20) - Баскетбол - Sports.ru". Sports.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2016-10-01. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  25. ↑ "В сборную России на февральские матчи вызваны 20 игроков / Российская Федерация Баскетбола". russiabasket.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2019-01-19. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  26. ↑ "В открытый тренировочный лагерь вызваны 15 игроков / Российская Федерация Баскетбола". russiabasket.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2019-06-20. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  27. ↑ "Поздравляем Илью Попова с днем свадьбы! - Официальный сайт баскетбольного клуба «Нижний Новгород»". www.old.nn-basket.ru. Archived from the original on 2019-01-10. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
Wikimedia Commons logo
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Category:Ilya Popov (basketball player).
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.