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Cesare Rubini

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Cesare Rubini (born November 2, 1923) is a former Italian player and coach, and high level waterpolo player. One of the greatest European coaches of all time, Rubini has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994, the only Italian to be so honored, along with . He has been also inducted in the International Swimming Hall of Fame as a world championship player. Career

Rubini started to play basketball in his high school in his native , where he graduated in 1941. The same year he began to play for , the most prestigious Italian basketball club. He however had a long-lived passion for water polo: this led him later to become one of the rare world sportsmen to play at the highest level in two different team sports.

In 1946 he won a silver medal with Italian national team in the European Championship held in .

The following year, he won also a silver medal at the European Championship, but this time with the waterpolo national team. In the meantime he had assumed the role of player-coach of Olimpia Milano: in 1948, however, he was called by the national teams of both sports. Rubini chose water polo, and won a gold medal at the in , beating The Netherlands in the final. With Rubini as a full-time player, could boast what was to be called the "Golden Settebello", one of the most valuable waterpolo teams ever, which also won a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics and at the European Championships of 1954. In both the events, Italy was behind traditional rivals of Yugoslavia and Hungary.

Rubini, also as player-coach, won 6 national titles in water polo with Canottieri Olona of , Rari of Naples and Camogli teams. He totaled 84 caps for Italian national team, 42 of which as captain.

As basketball player, from 1950 to 1954 Rubini won 5 national titles in a row, from 1950 to 1954. After 1956 he devoted only to the coach role, winning 10 national titles with Olimpia. In these years he set an unparalleled record of a 322 victories-28 defeats. As coach of the Milan team, Rubini totalled 488 victories, including the European Winner's Cup of 1966 and two European Cup Winner's Cups (1971 and 1972): these were the first international victories of Italian basketball clubs.

As a manager figure of basketball national team, Rubini took also part to the first international victories of Italy: these include the silver medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics. At the European Championships, Italy was first in 1983 at Nantes, second in1991 at and third in 1985 at .

Rubini is still involved into his beloved sports: he promotes water polo formation for young athletes, and is Honorary President of Olimpia Milano. External Links

 Hall of Fame entry

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Categories: European Coaches | European Players (Men) | International Coaches | International Players (Men) | Hall of Famers

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http://hoopedia.nba.com/index.php?title=Cesare_Rubini 08/02/2011