Kyle will replace Victor Khryapa who bore the honorary position for 9 years. He will become second foreign captain for CSKA after Matjaz Smodis (2008-09). Kyle was a co-captain last season.
Andrey Vorontsevich is named the co-captain.
Andrey Vatutin, CSKA Moscow President:
Kyle is one of the most-respected people in the European basketball. He is not just an excellent player, 3-time EuroLeague champion, 2-time EuroLeague Best Defender, but also an extraordinary person, kind, open, educated and highly organized gent with obvious leadership qualities. Kyle was “tried out” during the preseason, and he showed the ability to unite around him, earned trust from his teammates who address him with advises and wishes. Surely, we have many candidates to become a captain on the roster, so the choice was not easy. But I have no doubt that Kyle will meet our expectations.
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:
We came to this decision together, unanimously with Andrey Vatutin. I think this is the best choice. Kyle is well-respected among his teammates, EuroLeague coaches and players. He has great work ethic and he is a great representative of our club and sport. Kyle is thrilled and he accepted our decision as a huge responsibility on uniting all players regardless where they are coming from, because we are all under the same CSKA umbrella, we are fighting for the same goals, for the same emblem. Kyle is aware about it and he will be our great representative.
Kyle Hines, CSKA captain:
It’s a tremendous honor to have been named captain of CSKA. Thank you to President, Management, Staff, Coaches and my teammates. This a responsibility I don’t take lightly, as I know what it means to be captain of such a historic and prestigious club as CSKA. I look forward to the upcoming season and the future of helping CSKA continue its past excellence as we work to accomplish the goal of bringing more titles to Moscow.
CSKA captains in post-WWII history:
- 1944-1953 – Evgeny N. Alexeev;
- 1954-1965 – Arkady Bochkaryov;
- 1965-1970 – Gennady Volnov;
- 1970-1980 – Sergey Belov;
- 1980-1985 – Stanislav Yeremin;
- 1985-1990 – Sergey Tarakanov;
- 1990-1991 – Vladimir Gorin;
- 1991-1992 – Alexander Gusev;
- 1992-1993 – Maxim Astanin;
- 1993-1997 – Andrey Kornev;
- 1997-2000 – Valery Tikhonenko;
- 2000-2001 – Igor Koudelin;
- 2001-2002 – Dmitriy Domani;
- 2002-2003 – Evgeny Pashoutin;
- 2003-2006 – Sergey Panov;
- 2006-2008 – Zakhar Pashoutin;
- 2008-2009 – Matjaz Smodis;
- 2009-2018 – Victor Khryapa;
- 2018-… – Kyle Hines;
