Dino Meneghin (, ; born 18 January 1950) is an Italian former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

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 (6 ft 9 in) tall center, Meneghin was born in

Alano di Piave Alano di Piave is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the province of Belluno in the Italian region of Veneto, located about northwest of Venice and about southwest of Belluno. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,886 and an area of .A ...

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

(northeast

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

). On 20 November 1966, when he was 16 years old, he played in his first game 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 T ...

, with

Ignis Varese Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian first division LBA. For past club spo ...

. He played the last game of his career at the age of 45. In 2003, Meneghin became a Basketball Hall of Fame player and in 2010, he became a FIBA Hall of Fame player.

Professional career

In total, Meneghin played in 836 games and scored 8,560 points in the

championship. Meneghin became the second player from a European league to be drafted by an NBA team, when the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

manager

Marty Blake Marty Blake (March 22, 1927 – April 7, 2013) was a general manager of the Atlanta Hawks franchise, and the NBA's longtime Director of Scouting. He was a recipient of the Basketball Hall of Fame's John Bunn Award. Life Born in Paterson, New Jer ...

selected him with a late-round pick in the 1970 NBA draft. He never played in the USA, however. In 1980 and 1983, he was elected European Player of the Year:

Mr. Europa The Mister Europa European Player of the Year Award was an annual basketball award created in 1976, and given until 2010, by the panel of journalists of the Italian weekly magazine ''Superbasket''. Its purpose was to praise the best basketball p ...

, and he also won the Euroscar European Player of the Year award in 1983. In 1991, he was named the greatest FIBA European Champions' Cup ( EuroLeague) basketball player of all time, by the Italian basketball magazine Giganti del Basket. One of the greatest records of his career is his number of Finals appearances in the FIBA European Champions Cup (EuroLeague). He played in 10 consecutive finals with

Pallacanestro Varese Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian first division LBA. For past club s ...

, winning 5; and later in 2 more consecutive finals with Olimpia Milano, winning both. Finally, before his playing career ended, Meneghin played in the Italian League against his son,

Andrea Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that r ...

, who was also a great international player. On 28 October 2019, 25 years after he last played professionally, Olimpia Milano retired the number 11 in honor of Meneghin. The number 11 matched the number of seasons that he had played with the Italian club.Dino Meneghin jersey retired and the legend lives on.
/ref>

National team career

With the senior Italian national basketball team, Meneghin played in 271

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (suc ...

, and totaled 2,847 points scored. With Italy, he won the bronze medal at both the 1971 EuroBasket and the 1975 EuroBasket. He also won the silver medal at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

, and the gold medal at the

1983 EuroBasket The 1983 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1983, was the 23rd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It took place from 26 May to 4 June 1983 in France. Italy defeated Spain in the fina ...

Post-playing career

On 5 September 2003 Meneghin became the second Italian player to enter into the

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

, after

Cesare Rubini Cesare, the Italian version of the given name Caesar, may refer to: Given name * Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria (1738–1794), an Italian philosopher and politician * Cesare Airaghi (1840–1896), Italian colonel * Cesare Arzelà (1847–1912), It ...

, who served Olimpia Milano, both as player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

between the 1940s and the 1970s. After his playing career ended, Meneghin has since worked for the Italian Basketball Federation and for Olimpia Milano.

Personal life

Dino Meneghin is the father of

Andrea Meneghin Andrea Meneghin (born February 20, 1974) is an Italian retired professional basketball player and active coach. Standing at 2.00 m (6 ft. 6 in.), Meneghin was an offense oriented shooting guard-small forward. Professional career Meneghi ...

, who also played professional basketball. Andrea played against his father, during the latter's last season as a pro.

Honours and awards

Clubs

*4× FIBA World Cup for Clubs champion: (1967, 1970, 1973, 1987) *7× FIBA European Champions Cup (EuroLeague) champion: (1970, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1987, 1988) *2× FIBA European Cup Winners Cup (Saporta Cup) champion: (1967, 1980) *

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the third-tier level club competition in European basketball, after the FIBA European Champions' Cup (later renamed th ...

champion: (1985) *12×

champion: (1969–1971, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989) *6×

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 It ...

winner: (1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1986, 1987)

Italian senior national team

EuroBasket 1971 The 1971 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1971, was the seventeenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Venues First round Group A – Essen Group B – Böblingen Knock ...

: *

EuroBasket 1975 The 1975 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1975, was the nineteenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Venues First round Group A – Split Group B – Karlovac Group C � ...

: *

1980 Summer Olympic Games The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

: * EuroBasket 1983:

Individual

* EuroLeague Finals Top Scorer: (1974) *

FIBA European Selection FIBA All-Star Games were all-star basketball exhibition games, which were also known as "FIBA Festivals". The "FIBA Festival All-Star Games" were held from 1964 to 1995. The FIBA European Selection teams won most of the FIBA Festival All-Star Ga ...

: (1975) *2× Mister Europa European Player of the Year: 1980, 1983 * Euroscar European Player of the Year: 1983 * FIBA's 50 Greatest Players: 1991 *

Italian Basketball Hall of Fame The Italian Basketball Hall of Fame ( it, Italia Basket Hall of Fame, IBHOF) is a hall of fame that honours individuals (or whole teams) that have contributed to the spread and improvement of Italian basketball, through their sporting contributio ...

: 2006 *

50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors The 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors (2008) of FIBA European Champions Cup and EuroLeague history were awarded and chosen on February 3, 2008, in Madrid, Spain. The occasion was the fiftieth anniversary since the founding of the inaugural sea ...

: 2008 * FIBA Hall of Fame: 2010 * Number 11 jersey retired by retired by Olimpia Milano: 2019

References

External links

* *
Italian League Profile

Euroleague.net 50 Greatest Contributors

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meneghin, Dino 1950 births Living people Atlanta Hawks draft picks Basketball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1976 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1980 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Centers (basketball) Euroscar award winners FIBA EuroBasket-winning players FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Italian men's basketball players 1970 FIBA World Championship players 1978 FIBA World Championship players Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Olimpia Milano players Olympic basketball players of Italy Olympic medalists in basketball Olympic silver medalists for Italy Pallacanestro Trieste players Pallacanestro Varese players Sportspeople from the Province of Belluno