Italbasket: Luca Banchi forced to take a break; the FIP sets the record straight

The Italian Basketball Federation announced on Monday that Luca Banchi will not be able to lead the national team during the third qualifying window for the 2027 World Cup. The Azzurri head coach was forced to step down due to family reasons, a situation that the FIP announced without providing further details.

Despite the head coach’s absence, the Azzurri’s schedule will continue without changes: training and matches remain confirmed in agreement with Banchi himself and with federation president Giovanni Petrucci, while the coaching duties will be entrusted to Marco Ramondino, promoted to head coach for this international window.

Working alongside him will be a staff consisting of Adriano Vertemati, Iacopo Squarcina, Riccardo Fois (the latter fresh off an NBA title with the New York Knicks and expected to arrive in the coming days), as well as Adam Filippi, a key figure in player development, and Filippo Messina, fresh from his experience at Duke University. Physical conditioning will be handled by Matteo Panichi, assisted by Fabrizio Santolamazza.

The training camp began on Monday at the Acqua Acetosa Olympic Training Center in Rome and will prepare the Azzurri for the final two games of the first qualifying round: on July 2 in Reykjavik against Iceland (9:45 p.m. Italian time) and on July 5 at the Virtus Arena in Bologna against Lithuania (8:00 p.m.). Two friendly matches are also on the schedule: June 24 in Gorizia against Croatia and June 27 in Celje against Slovenia.