Dino Meneghin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olympic medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's Basketball | |||
| Silver | 1980 Moscow | Team competition | |
Dino Meneghin (born January 18, 1950) is an Italian former basketball player. He was considered the best player for his country for decades, and, for several years, also the best in Europe. He is 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) tall.
Meneghin was born in Alano di Piave, Veneto (northeast Italy). On November 20, 1966, when he was 16 years old, he played his first match in the Italian League with the Ignis Varese Club. He played the last match at the age of 45. Today he works for the Italian Basketball Federation and for the Milan's club Olimpia.
In total, he played 836 matches and scored 8,560 points in the Italian Championship. For the National Team he played 271 matches, totalling 2,847 points. Meneghin became the first player from a European league to be drafted by an NBA team when the Atlanta Hawks selected him with a late-round pick in the 1970 NBA Draft. (He never played in America, however).
In 1980 and 1983 he was elected the MVP in all of Europe. In 1991 was elected the greatest European basketball player of all time. On September 5, 2003 he became the second Italian player to enter Basketball Hall of Fame, after Cesare Rubini, who played for and coached Olimpia Milano between the 1940s and the 1970s.
One of his greatest record of his career is the number of Finals of European Champions cup. He played 10 consecutive finals with Varese (5 won & 5 lost) and 2 more consecutive with Olimpia Milano (he won both).
[edit] Trivia
Before his career ended, Dino Meneghin played in the Italian Serie A of basketball against his son Andrea, also an international level player.
[edit] Clubs
- Pallacanestro Varese (1966-1980)
- Olimpia Milano (1981-1990)
- Pallacanestro Trieste (1991-1992)
- Olimpia Milano (1993-1995)
[edit] Honours
[edit] Clubs
- 12 Italian Championship (1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989). He was in the runner up team 9 times.
- 6 Italian Cups (1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1986, 1987)
- 7 European Champions Cups (1970, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1987, 1988)
- 2 European Cup Winners Cup (1967, 1980)
- 1 Korac Cup (1985)
- 4 World Cup for Clubs (1967, 1970, 1973, 1987)
[edit] Italian national team
- Silver Medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics
- Gold (1983) and bronze (1975) at the European Championship
