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Pedro Martinez has been named the 2025-26 Alexander Gomelskiy Coach of the Year after guiding Valencia Basket to a 25-13 regular-season record and a second-place finish in the EuroLeague standings.
In his first full season on the EuroLeague sideline since November 2018, Martinez returned to the competition with a club that had spent a year away and immediately turned Valencia into one of the league’s most consistent teams.
The 64-year-old coach received the most votes from his fellow EuroLeague head coaches, who select the award. That detail matters, because it shows how strongly his work was respected inside the competition.
Valencia did not just win games. It led the regular season in scoring at 90.9 points per game and finished among the league leaders in several major categories, including three-pointers made, rebounds, blocks, assists, offensive rebounds and steals.
The team’s late-season push was just as important as the full-season record. After shaking off a 2-3 start, Valencia found its rhythm, posted its first three-game winning streak and then built a strong run that carried it into home-court position for the playoffs.
A key stretch came in late November, when Valencia won eight of nine games and collected road wins at Olympiacos Piraeus, Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens and Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade. The team then closed with a 4-0 record in April to climb to second place.
Valencia also proved it could win decisively, finishing tied for second-most double-digit victories with 12 and posting an 85.7% winning percentage in those games. That kind of control is usually a sign of a team that understands pace, shot selection and game management.
Martinez’s award is also a milestone for the club. He is the first Valencia head coach to win the honor and only the fourth Spanish-born coach to do so, joining Chus Mateo, Pablo Laso and Xavi Pascual.
The vote itself reflected the high standard of the race. Tomas Masiulis of Zalgiris Kaunas finished second, followed by Georgios Bartzokas of Olympiacos and 2024-25 winner Sarunas Jasikevicius of Fenerbahce.
Martinez becomes the 14th different coach to win the award, which is named after Alexander Gomelskiy, one of the most decorated figures in basketball history. His legacy gives the honor added weight, and Martinez earned it through a season built on winning basketball, balance and steady execution.
