Bruno Cerella (born July 30, 1986) is an Italian-Argentine professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for

Blu Basket 1971 Blu Basket 1971 is an Italian professional basketball team located in Treviglio Treviglio (, Bergamasque: ) is a town and ''comune'' (i.e. municipality) in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, Northern Italy. It lies south of the province cap ...

of the Italian Serie A2. Hailing from Bahía Blanca, a city seeped in basketball tradition, where players such as

Manu Ginóbili Emanuel David Ginóbili Maccari (, , ; born 28 July 1977) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. Over a 23-year professional career, he became one of only two players (along with Bill Bradley) to have won a EuroLeague title, an ...

were born and raised. Having come to Italy as a teenager, he slowly established himself, and moved up the league levels to join

Emporio Armani Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

, where he became a fan favourite, due to his dynamism and dedication to the team. In August 2017, Cerella was sent on loan to

Reyer Venezia S.S.P. Reyer Venezia Mestre, commonly known as Reyer Venezia or simply Reyer, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Venice, Veneto. The club currently plays in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the highest tier of basketball in ...

of the LBA.

Professional career

After playing junior youth basketball for

Estudiantes de Bahía Blanca Club Estudiantes de Bahía Blanca is an Argentine sports club based in Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires Province. The club is best known for its basketball team, that currently played in the main levels of Argentina, including Campeonato Argentino ...

and Pueyrredon in his birth country of Argentina, Cerella moved to Italy at age 17, to play professional basketball. After playing for a succession of teams in the Italian lower level divisions, he joined Banca Tercas Teramo in the Italian first division in 2008. Along with David Moss, he helped the team reach the semifinals of the 2009

Italian Cup Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, and to a third place finish in the

Italian League The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of ...

, before being eliminated in the playoffs by

. After a few LBA seasons, he joined

in 2013, and with them he participated in Europe's premier basketball competition, the EuroLeague, for the first time in his career. In August 2017, Cerella was sent on loan to

Umana Reyer Venezia S.S.P. Reyer Venezia Mestre, commonly known as Reyer Venezia or simply Reyer, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Venice, Veneto. The club currently plays in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the highest tier of basketball in ...

, the defending Italian champions. While playing for Reyer Venezia in the 2017–18 season, Cerella won the

FIBA Europe Cup The FIBA Europe Cup (FEC) is an annual professional club basketball competition organised by FIBA for eligible European clubs. It is FIBA's European-wide second level. Clubs mainly qualify for the competition based on their performance in natio ...

. He re-signed with Reyer Venezia on June 13, 2020.

National team career

Cerella was a member of the senior men's

Italian national basketball team The Italy men's national basketball team ( it, Nazionale di pallacanestro dell'Italia) represents Italy in international basketball tournaments. They are administered by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). Italy has qualified for 38 EuroBa ...

in 2008, although he never played in an official competition.

Player profile

Although rarely a starter, and not a prolific scorer, Cerrella is known on his teams as a luxury bench option, who will reliably perform his defensive duties, contribute with steals, and rarely turnover the ball on offense.

Personal life

Of Italian heritage, though his paternal grandfather, he became an Italian citizen when he was 15. He created with fellow player

Tommaso Marino Tommaso is an Italian given name. It has also been used as a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name A * Tommaso Acquaviva d'Aragona (1600–1672), Roman Catholic prelate * Tommaso Aldrovandini (1653–1736), Italian painter of ...

, and others, the charity project “Slums Dunk”, that he operates during the off-season in Kenya and Zambia. It aims to provide basketball coaching, facilities, and education to underprivileged youngsters in slums. In his free time, he enjoys scuba diving and tourism. One of his good friends is fellow Bahía Blanca native

Rodrigo Palacio Rodrigo Sebastián Palacio Alcalde (; born 5 February 1982) is a Argentine basketball player and former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is the son of José Ramón Palacio, a historic player of Club Olimpo during the 1980s. ...

, who also lives in Milan, and is a basketball fan.Liotta, Christian
"Cerella reveals: "Palacio wants to see the EA7 away""
'' fcinternews.it'', 1 March 2014. Retrieved on 24 February 2015.

References

External links

Bruno Cerella
at eurobasket.com
Bruno Cerella
at euroleague.net
Bruno Cerella
at legabasket.it {{DEFAULTSORT:Cerella, Bruno 1986 births Living people Argentine expatriate basketball people in Italy Argentine men's basketball players Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Italian men's basketball players Lega Basket Serie A players Olimpia Milano players Pallacanestro Varese players People with acquired Italian citizenship Reyer Venezia players Shooting guards Small forwards Sportspeople from Bahía Blanca Teramo Basket players