Italbasket, Luca Banchi summons 17 but issues warning
The men’s national basketball team will begin June 15, with 17 players under the orders of head coach Luca Banchi, the preparation toward the summer window that will culminate with the 2027 World Cup qualifying games, scheduled against Iceland in Reykjavik on July 2 and Lithuania at the Virtus Arena in Bologna. The official competitions will be preceded by two friendly matches, on June 24 in Gorizia with Croatia and on June 27 in Celje against Slovenia.
Banchi, in commenting on the call-ups, specified that several athletes (as many as 16) will be available once their commitments in their respective leagues and, for those who play in U.S. colleges, in summer training camps are over. Precisely the NCAA issue, however, is a sore point for the Italbasket technical commissioner.
“As expected, we had to face several complexities to build the team roster in this third window,” he said. If a late involvement of the players committed in the season finale of the different leagues was largely predictable, it was different to confront the reality of the guys who are choosing to continue their careers in U.S. colleges.”
“Inevitable also were the numerous defections due to the physical conditions of some Azzurri at the end of a long and demanding season. It will be necessary, as always, great spirit of adaptation and a strong will to adapt to the situations that will arise along the way. This is precisely the meaning of the mini-meetings that we have strongly wanted during the year: to broaden the base to as many players of national interest as possible to be included in the running in the backbone of the Senior National Team,” Banchi concluded.
Italbasket, the 17 summoned
18 – Matteo Spagnolo – Guard – Baskonia (Spain)
19 – Gabriele Procida – Wing – Real Madrid (Spain)
22 – Giordano Bortolani – Guard – Acqua S. Bernardo Cantù
24 – Francesco Ferrari – Wing – Olidata Virtus Bologna
25 – Tommaso Baldasso – Guard – Bertram Tortona
28 – Davide Casarin – Guard – Ferramenta Vanoli Cremona
30 – Guglielmo Caruso – Wing/Center – Guerri Napoli
37 – Matteo Librizzi – Playmaker – Openjobmetis Varese
38 – Riccardo Rossato – Guard – Unahotels Reggio Emilia
40 – Luca Severini – Wing – Unahotels Reggio Emilia
42 – Giovanni Veronesi – Guard – Ferramenta Vanoli Cremona
45 – Nicola Akele – Wing – Olidata Virtus Bologna
44 – Sasha Grant – Wing – Ferramenta Vanoli Cremona
– Lorenzo Bucarelli – Guard – Victoria Libertas Pesaro
– Matteo Cavallero – Guard/Ala – Wegreenit Milano
– Giovanni Emejuru – Center – Free Agent
– Luca Possamai – Center – Biemme Service Libertas Livorno
The 16 available athletes
1 – Nico Mannion – Playmaker – EA7 Emporio Armani Milano
4 – Leonardo Candi – Playmaker/Guard – Umana Reyer Venezia
7 – Stefano Tonut – Guard – EA7 Emporio Armani Milano
12 – Diego Flaccadori – Playmaker – EA7 Emporio Armani Milano
15 – Darius Thompson – Guard – Valencia (Spain)
16 – Amedeo Tessitori – Center – Umana Reyer Venezia
17 – Giampaolo Ricci – Wing – EA7 Emporio Armani Milano
20 – Saliou Niang – Ala – Olidata Virtus Bologna
25 – Alessandro Lever – Wing/Center – Umana Reyer Venezia
26 – Luigi Suigo – Center – Mega Superbet Belgrade (Serbia)
50 – Luca Vincini – Wing/Center – Banco di Sardegna Sassari
– Alessandro Bertini – Wing – Victoria Libertas Pesaro
– Leonardo Bettiol – Wing – University of Massachusetts (NCAA, USA)
– Emmanuel Innocenti – Guard – Arizona State University (NCAA, USA)
– Andrea Loro – Wing – Tezenis Verona
– Federico Zampini – Playmaker – Tezenis Verona
