SOFIA (Bulgaria) - Bulgarian basketball legend, and FIBA Hall of Famer, Atanas Golomeev has passed away at the age of 76, it was confirmed.

Golomeev was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in the Class of 2019 having previously been named in FIBA's 50 Greatest Players  in 1991.

"It is a very hard moment for all of us," said Georgi Glushkov, Bulgarian Basketball Federation President. "He has always been close to basketball and a role model for us, on the court and outside. He was one of the biggest figures in Bulgarian basketball, very well known in Europe and the world - a Hall of Fame member. This is a great great loss."

Golomeev had a storied career on the international stage representing Bulgaria having made the FIBA EuroBasket All-Star Five in four consecutive tournaments from 1971-1977. He averaged 18.6 points per game in 1971 before producing a tournament-best 22.3 points per outing two years later.

The skilful center continued to be unstoppable with 23.1 points per game to lead all scorers at the 1975 edition before a further 20.1 points coming in 1977 to cap a remarkable stretch at Europe's flagship event.

Golomeev also made history in 1981 when at the age of 34 he became the first Bulgarian player to receive legal permission to play abroad - signing forTurkish club Adana. He later returned to Bulgaria in 1983 for one final season at Levski, and then coached the team to a league title in 1986.

In 1991, Golomeev served as the president of the Bulgarian Basketball Federation for two years.

FIBA