Dmitry Andreyevich Kulagin (born July 1, 1992, Moscow) is a Russian professional basketball player, a shooting guard. Master of Sport of Russia, International Class. He is a EuroLeague champion, Russian champion, and FIBA Challenge Cup winner. In the 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons he played for the Nizhny Novgorod basketball club "Nizhny Novgorod".[1]
Early career
Kulagin began playing basketball at the age of six. In his youth he played for the youth team of CSKA Moscow. In the 2009 offseason he moved to BC Nizhny Novgorod, which was playing in the second-tier division of the Russian championship, Super League B, and quickly secured a place in the starting lineup. Together with the club, he earned promotion to Super League A that same season; the league was later renamed the Professional Basketball League (PBL).[1]
At the Nizhny Novgorod club
In the 2010/11 season Kulagin averaged about 20 minutes per game on the court. Valdemaras Chomičius, coach of Triumph from the Moscow suburbs, named him one of the revelations of the first half of the championship. In the 2010/11 Russian Cup, BC Nizhny Novgorod reached the "Final Four" for the first time in its history: in the semifinal the Nizhny Novgorod team beat Yenisey of Krasnoyarsk, but lost in the final to Spartak of St. Petersburg and won silver medals. Kulagin was named to the tournament's all-star five as the best point guard.[1]
In late March 2011 the player ended up in the hospital after a fight outside a nightclub, missing the PBL All-Star Game and several club games. Nizhny Novgorod head coach Zoran Lukić called him the biggest disappointment of the season. On May 27, 2011, the club parted ways with the guard; general manager Sergey Panov explained this by the player's lack of sufficient responsibility.[1]
Youth national teams
At the 2008 European Under-16 Championship, Kulagin was named to the tournament's all-star team and was the second-leading scorer, even though the Russian national team finished only eighth.[1]
At the 2010 European Under-18 Championship he became one of the leaders of the Russian national team: in the game against Serbia he scored 23 points, made 8 assists, 7 rebounds, and 5 steals. Largely thanks to his play, the team reached the final for the first time, where it lost to Lithuania. At the end of the tournament Kulagin was named the best point guard and led in steals; after this success he was nominated for the title of Europe's best under-20 player of 2010.[1]
In 2011, at the Under-19 World Championship in Latvia, Kulagin again proved himself a leader: in the quarterfinal the Russian team stunned the USA, lost to Lithuania in the semifinal, and won bronze in the third-place game. In all three playoff games he scored more than 20 points and led the team in scoring; at the end of the tournament he was named to the all-star five.[1]
Later career
In July 2011 Kulagin signed a contract with Triumph from the Moscow suburbs, where he spent one season, then moved to the Samara club Krasnye Krylia. With them he won the Russian Cup and the FIBA Challenge Cup; in VTB United League games he averaged 5.5 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. In 2015 he signed with CSKA on a "1+2" deal: in the 2015/16 season he played 49 games, making his EuroLeague debut in a home game against Barcelona (10 points, 3 assists). In July 2016 the club exercised the option to extend his contract.[1]
Sources
- rus.team — Kulagin Dmitry Andreyevich — Russian Basketball Player — Biography