Limoges CSP: Mikko Larkas not retained, uncertainty remains about 2025-2026 coach
June 1, 2025
Gabriel Pantel-Jouve
Dario Gjergja, Ostend legend, to become new Limoges CSP head coach
Betclic ELITE - Dario Gjergja, iconic coach of BC Ostend, will discover Betclic ELITE with Limoges CSP. The Croatian-born, naturalized Belgian coach will succeed Mikko Larkas on the Limoges bench.
Photo Credit : FIBA
The Limoges CSP has found its new head coach in Dario Gjergja. After exploring several options, including Zoran Lukic which was ultimately abandoned according to Le Populaire du Centre, the Limoges club has reached an agreement with Dario Gjergja according to our information, as well as that of Basketeurope and Populaire du Centre. At 49, the Zadar native will leave Ostend, where he has been coaching since 2011, to take on a new challenge in France. He succeeds Mikko Larkas.
An impressive record in Belgium
In thirteen seasons on Ostend’s bench, Dario Gjergja has amassed an impressive record: 13 Belgian championship titles, 7 National Cups, 4 Super Cups and two BNXT Super Cups. Three times Belgian Coach of the Year, then Belgian Coach of the Year in BNXT League in 2024, he is considered one of the best coaches in the country.
Long targeted by Limoges
His name had been circulating for several years in Beaublanc’s corridors. Frédéric Forte had even considered giving him control of the team. But the opportunity never materialized. Until this summer, when Limoges CSP, attracted by his rigorous profile, defensive approach and experience with young players, decided to put him in charge of their sporting project.
Strasbourg also approached him
During the 2024-2025 season, SIG Strasbourg tried to convince Gjergja to join Alsace to replace Laurent Vila. Without success. The coach preferred to continue his mission at Ostend until the end of his commitment. He will definitively join the Cercle Saint-Pierre after Euro 2025 (which ends September 14), which should mark the end of his journey as Belgian national team head coach, which began in 2018.
An anticipated reunion with Mamadou Guissé
Dario Gjergja will reunite in Limoges with one of his protégés from the Belgian national team, Mamadou Guissé. He will also be the sixth coach from former Yugoslavia to lead CSP, after Bozidar Maljkovic, Vlado Djurovic, Bogdan Tanjevic, Dusko Ivanovic and Dusko Vujosevic, as counted by Popu’.
With a two-year contract and a trusted assistant by his side, Dario Gjergja is ready to write a new chapter of his rich career on the Beaublanc bench.
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