Horia Demian
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Horia Demian (1942 - 1989) was a Romanian basketball player who played for U Cluj (Ştiinţa Cluj between 1951-1965, currently U Mobitelco Cluj) from 1960 until 1970 [1]. During that period U Cluj finished 2nd in one season and 3rd in four seasons in the Romanian Basketball Division A [2] [3].
He was selected to play in the Romania national basketball team 165 times and received the award "Maestru al Sportului" from the Romanian Basketball Federation in 1964 [4]. He took part in 4 Eurobasket tournaments [5], including the Eurobasket 1967 in Finland, where Romania classified fifth, its best classification in history [6] [7]. After ending his career as player he continued as coach.
He also obtained a Pharmacy degree from the Iuliu Haţieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca and a Ph.D. in Chemistry.
Although receiving offers to play elsewhere, including the American professional league, he remained loyal to his team. In 2005, the readers from the newspaper Ziarul Clujeanului voted him the best basketball player from Cluj-Napoca of all times. The readers chose him over the NBA player Gheorghe Muresan, of whom Horia had been mentor [8]. The main sports hall in Cluj-Napoca is named after him, Sala Sporturilor "Horia Demian".
