Tornike Shengelia · Biography

On 7 March 2022, Tornike Shengelia signed for Virtus Bologna, days after terminating his contract with CSKA Moscow in protest at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Georgian power forward, known to everyone as “Toko”, said at the time that he could not keep playing for a club linked to the Russian army. That move opened his Italian chapter. Born on 5 October 1991 in Tbilisi and standing 2.06 metres, he had come through the Spanish youth system and had already played in the NBA, the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. In Bologna he won the EuroCup and the Italian league, and in 2025 he returned to Spain with FC Barcelona.

Valencia youth ranks and Belgium

Shengelia finished his development in the Valencia Basket academy and made his Liga ACB debut on 8 February 2009, scoring seven points in nine minutes. He was part of the Valencia squad that won the EuroCup in 2010. On 20 August that year, club and player agreed to end his contract, and days later he joined Belgian side Spirou Charleroi, who loaned him to Verviers-Pepinster for 2010-11. He returned to Charleroi for 2011-12. By then he had already made his senior debut for Georgia, in 2009, the same summer he played at the U20 European Championship Division B.

Two seasons in the NBA

In the 2012 draft the Philadelphia 76ers picked him 54th overall, in the second round, and traded him to the Brooklyn Nets that same night. In Brooklyn he split time between the NBA and assignments with the Springfield Armor of the development league. On 21 January 2014 he moved to the Chicago Bulls, who waived him on 14 April. He left the United States with 45 NBA games to his name.

Baskonia: six years in Vitoria

On 20 June 2014 he returned to the Liga ACB with Baskonia, who signed him for three seasons and later extended the deal twice. In 2015 a brawl in the Basque derby against Bilbao Basket earned him a five-game suspension. His best individual year was 2017-18: he averaged 13.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists in the EuroLeague, made the All-EuroLeague First Team and the All-ACB First Team, and finished second to Luka Dončić in the Spanish league MVP vote. In 2019 he was named the ACB’s Most Spectacular Player and made the All-ACB Second Team, an honour he repeated in 2020. That year brought the title: Baskonia won the 2020 Liga ACB by beating FC Barcelona in the final, in which Shengelia scored 14 points.

CSKA Moscow and Virtus Bologna

On 9 July 2020 he joined CSKA Moscow, winning the VTB United League and the VTB Supercup with the Russian club in 2021. He left CSKA in February 2022 and joined Virtus Bologna in March, lifting the 2022 EuroCup with them. In 2023 he won the Italian Supercup and was named its MVP. He made the All-Lega Serie A team in 2024 and 2025. In the 2024-25 EuroLeague he scored 35 points against Fenerbahçe, his career high in the competition. In 2025 Virtus won the Italian league and Shengelia was named Finals MVP.

Georgia captain

At youth level he won gold with Georgia at the 2011 U20 European Championship Division B in Sarajevo. With the senior team he played at EuroBasket 2011 and 2017, and an injury kept him out of EuroBasket 2022, which Georgia co-hosted. He captained his country at the 2023 World Cup, Georgia’s first: he scored 16 points in the 85-60 win over Cape Verde in Okinawa, and Georgia finished 16th. At EuroBasket 2025 he had 24 points and eight rebounds in the round-of-16 win over France, which sent Georgia to the quarter-finals for the first time. There they lost 93-79 to Finland despite his 18 points.

Barcelona and Dubai

On 21 July 2025 he signed for FC Barcelona. In his only season at the Palau he played 34 EuroLeague games, averaging 12.4 points and 4.6 rebounds, and reached the 2026 Liga ACB final. On 6 August 2026 Barcelona announced his departure, and that same day Shengelia signed with Dubai Basketball, an ABA League club coached by Xavi Pascual.