Augusto "Gus" Binelli (born 23 September 1964) is a retired Italian 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 (appro ...

player and coach. At a height of tall, and a weight of , he played at the center position. Binelli was drafted in the second round, of the 1986 NBA draft, by 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 Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

, though he never played in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. The Hawks still own his draft rights, as of December 2024.

Professional career

Binelli played with the senior men's team of

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

, from 1980 to 2000. With Virtus Bologna, he won 5 Italian League championships (1984, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998), 5 Italian Cups (1984, 1989, 1990, 1997, 1999), the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

championship (1998), and the FIBA European Cup Cup Winner's Cup (FIBA Saporta Cup) (1990). He was also a 2-time

McDonald's Open The McDonald's Championship (sometimes called the McDonald's Open) was an international men's basketball competition that featured a representative of the National Basketball Association (representing North America) against champion club teams ...

finalist (

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

). He was a member of the FIBA European Selection team, in 1995.

Italy national team

Binelli played with the senior

Italy national basketball team The Italy men's national basketball team () represents Italy in international basketball tournaments. They are administered by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). Italy has qualified for 38 EuroBasket tournaments, winning two gold medals ...

, at the

EuroBasket 1985 The 1985 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1985, was the 24th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It took place from 5 to 16 June 1985 in West Germany. The Soviet Union defeated Cze ...

, where he won a bronze medal. He also played at the

1986 FIBA World Championship The 1986 FIBA World Championship was the 10th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. It was hosted by Spain and was held from 5 to 20 July 1986. The final phase of the tournament was hel ...

, and at the EuroBasket 1989.

Awards and Accomplishments

Clubs

*5× Italian League Champion: (1984, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998) *5×

Italian Cup Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

Winner: (1984, 1989, 1990, 1997, 1999) *

FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners Cup'', was the name of the European professional club basketball system, second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winn ...

(FIBA Saporta Cup) Champion: (1990) * Italian Supercup Winner: (1995) * FIBA European Selection: (1995) *

Champion: (1998)

Italian senior national team

* 1985 EuroBasket:

References

External links

FIBA ProfileItalian League Profile
1964 births Living people Atlanta Hawks draft picks Centers (basketball) Italian expatriate basketball people in the United States Italian men's basketball coaches Italian men's basketball players Pallacanestro Trapani players Sutor Basket Montegranaro players Virtus Bologna players 1986 FIBA World Championship players Sportspeople from Carrara 20th-century Italian sportsmen {{Italy-basketball-bio-stub