Walter Magnifico

Last updated
Walter Magnifico
Walter Magnifico.jpg
Walter Magnifico, 1975
Personal information
Born (1961-06-18) June 18, 1961 (age 63)
San Severo, Italy
NationalityItalian
Listed height6 ft 10.25 in (2.09 m)
Listed weight232 lb (105 kg)
Career information
Playing career1979–2004
Position Power forward / center
Coaching career2004–2013
Career history
As player:
1979–1980 Fortitudo Bologna
1980–1996 VL Pesaro
1996–1997 Virtus Bologna
1997–1998 Virtus Roma
1998–2001VL Pesaro
2003–2004Pallacanestro Firenze
2004 NSB Rieti
As coach:
2004–2006 NSB Rieti (assistant)
2007Cestistica San Severo
2009Foligno Basket
2012–2013Misano Pirates (Under-19 team)
Career highlights and awards
As a player:
Medals
Representing Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Men's Basketball
EuroBasket
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1985 West Germany
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1991 Italy

Walter Magnifico (born June 18, 1961 in San Severo, Italy) is a former Italian professional basketball player and coach. At a height of 2.09 m (6'10 14") tall, he played at the power forward and center positions. He is considered to be one of the best Italian basketball players ever, and he was among the 105 player nominees for the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors list.

Contents

Professional career

After playing with the junior teams of Cestistica San Severo, Magnifico spent most of his pro career with VL Pesaro, thus becoming one of the club's emblems. While in Pesaro, he led his team to a Saporta Cup title in 1983, two Italian League championships, in 1988 and 1990, and to two Italian Cup titles, in 1985 and 1992. He also won a third Italian Cup, after his transfer to Virtus Bologna, in 1997.

National team career

Magnifico was a regular member of the senior Italian national team. He helped Italy win the bronze medal at the 1985 EuroBasket, and the silver medal at the 1991 EuroBasket.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dejan Bodiroga</span> Serbian basketball player (born 1973)

Dejan Bodiroga is a Serbian basketball executive and former professional player, who is currently the President of EuroLeague Basketball. In 1998 and 2002, he received the Golden Badge award for the best athlete of Yugoslavia, and the Yugoslav Olympic Committee also declared him the Sportsman of the Year. He was named to the FIBA All-Time EuroStars Team in 2007. In 2018, he was named one of the 101 Greats of European Basketball. HoopsHype named Bodiroga one of the 75 Greatest International Players Ever in 2021. He was inducted into the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dino Meneghin</span> Italian basketball player

Dino Meneghin is an Italian former professional basketball player. He is widely considered to be the best Italian player ever, as well as one of Europe's all-time greats. A 2.06 m tall center, Meneghin was born in Alano di Piave, Veneto. On 20 November 1966, when he was 16 years old, he played in his first game in the Italian League, with Ignis Varese. He played the last game of his career at the age of 45.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro</span> Italian professional basketball team

Victoria Libertas, full name Unione Sportiva Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro, is a professional basketball team that is based in Pesaro, Italy. The club competes in the top level Italian professional basketball league, the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). It was commonly known across Europe as Scavolini Pesaro, from the name of its historical main sponsor Scavolini, an Italian kitchen and bathroom products designer and manufacturer, whose co-founder Valter Scavolini was formerly club president. Now, it is known as Carpegna Prosciutto Basket Pesaro after its title sponsor. For past club sponsorship names, see the list below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleksandar Đorđević</span> Serbian basketball player and coach

Aleksandar "Saša" Đorđević or Sale Đorđević is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as a head coach for the senior China. During his playing career, he was listed as a 1.88 m (6'2") 90 kg (198 lb.) point guard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Gomelsky</span> Russian basketball player and coach

Alexander Yakovlevich Gomelsky was a Russian professional basketball player and coach. The Father of Soviet and Russian basketball, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995 and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierluigi Marzorati</span> Italian basketball player

Pierluigi "Pierlo" Marzorati is an Italian former professional basketball player. He is considered to have been one of the best point guards of all time in Europe, and was named the Mister Europa, in 1976. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. In 2007, he was inducted into the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame and enshrined into the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was chosen as one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dražen Dalipagić</span> Serbian basketball player and coach

Dražen "Praja" Dalipagić is a Serbian former professional basketball player and head coach. He was selected the best athlete of Yugoslavia in the year 1978, and is one of the most decorated athletes in Yugoslavian history. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. Dalipagić was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2004, and into the FIBA Hall of Fame, also as a player, in 2007. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors.

Antonello Riva is an Italian former professional basketball player. At 1.96 m (6'5"), he played at the shooting guard and small forward positions. During his playing career, he was nicknamed "Nembo Kid". Riva was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. In 2004, he was given an award to mark his being the top scorer of all-time in the top two Italian club league competitions. He is also the all-time leading scorer in the history of the senior men's Italian national team. He was named to the FIBA All-Time EuroStars Team in 2007. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Antonio San Epifanio</span> Spanish basketball player

Juan Antonio San Epifanio Ruiz, most commonly known as "Epi", is a Spanish retired professional basketball player. He spent all of his club career playing with FC Barcelona. He was named the Mister Europa European Player of the Year in 1984, by the Italian basketball magazine Superbasket, and the Best European Player of the 1980s decade, by the French sports newspaper L'Équipe. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manuel Raga</span> Mexican basketball player

Manuel "Manolo" Raga Navarro is a Mexican former professional basketball player. During his playing career, he was nicknamed, "The Flying Mexican", due to his nationality and his one of a kind 43 inch standing vertical leap. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors. In 2016, he became a FIBA Hall of Fame player.

Manuel "Lolo" Sainz Márquez is a Spanish retired professional basketball player and coach. Sainz spent most of his career with Real Madrid, either as a player, or a head coach. He did however, also coach the senior Spain national team, between 1993 and 2001. On 3 February 2008, he was chosen as one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors, over the previous half-century, by the EuroLeague Basketball Experts Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riccardo Pittis</span> Italian basketball player

Riccardo Pittis is a former Italian professional basketball player. At a height of 2.03 m tall, he played at the small forward position. During his basketball playing career, he was nicknamed Acciughino. He was among the 105 player nominees for the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors list.

Dragan Kićanović is a Serbian and Yugoslav retired professional basketball player.

Vladimir Georgiyevich Andreev is a Russian former basketball player. At 2.15 m tall, he played at the center position. He was among the 105 player nominees for the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors list.

Basketballin Greece erupted with the win of the Greece men's national basketball team at the 1987 EuroBasket in Athens, which caused a general basketball euphoria in the country. Since then, the Greece men's national teams have achieved consistent international success, leading Greece to join Russia, Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Spain, France, and Lithuania in the circle of European basketball powers. In addition to the Greece national team's triumph in 1987, they won the gold medal at the 2005 EuroBasket, silver medals at the 1989 EuroBasket, and the 2006 FIBA World Cup, and the bronze medal at the 2009 EuroBasket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jiří Zídek Sr.</span> Czech basketball player and coach (1944–2022)

Jiří Zídek Sr. was a Czech professional basketball player and coach. At 2.06 metres tall, Zídek was a talented center, and is considered by many to be the best Czech basketball player ever, as he was named the Best Czech Player of the 20th Century, and he was the Czechoslovak League's all-time leading scorer. He was also among the 105 nominees to the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors list. His son, Jiří "George" Zídek Jr., also won the EuroLeague title with Žalgiris, in 1999. To this day, they are the only father and son to have reached a EuroLeague title game as players. In 2019, he became the first Czech to be inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motti Aroesti</span> Israeli basketball player and coach

Motti Aroesti, is a retired Israeli professional basketball player and coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petar Skansi</span> Croatian basketball player and coach (1943–2022)

Petar Skansi was a Croatian professional basketball player and coach. During his playing career, he played for Jugoplastika and Maxmobili Pesaro. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. He was a member of the Yugoslavia national team that silver medalled at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ignacio Solozábal</span> Spanish basketball player

Ignacio Solozábal, most commonly known as Nacho Solozábal, is a Spanish retired professional basketball player. Born in Barcelona, Spain, and at a height of 1.85 m tall, played at the point guard position. On 8 October 2006 FC Barcelona retired his number 7 jersey. He is considered to be one of the best Spanish basketball players, and he was among the 105 player nominees for the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors (2008) list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mihovil Nakić</span> Croatian basketball player

Mihovil Nakić-Vojnović is a Croatian former professional basketball player. Standing at 2.04 m, he played as a small forward.

References