Marcelo Nicola
Argentine-Italian basketball player and coach
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Marcelo Patricio Nicola Virginio (born 12 May 1971) is an Argentine-Italian[1][2] former professional basketball player and a current coach. A very versatile power forward, he was a regular member of the Argentine national basketball team, and competed many years in the EuroLeague. He was most recently the head coach for Scafati Basket of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).
Nicola with Lietuvos rytas Vilnius | |||||||||||||||
| Universo Treviso Basket | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Head coach | ||||||||||||||
| League | LBA | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | 12 May 1971 | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 225 lb (102 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 1993: 2nd round, 50th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Drafted by | Houston Rockets | ||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1988–2007 | ||||||||||||||
| Position | Power forward | ||||||||||||||
| Number | 4, 11, 13 | ||||||||||||||
| Coaching career | 2014–present | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||||||
| 1988–1989 | Cañadense | ||||||||||||||
| 1989–1991 | Baskonia | ||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Long Island Surf | ||||||||||||||
| 1991–1996 | Baskonia | ||||||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | Panathinaikos | ||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | FC Barcelona | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–2004 | Benetton Treviso | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | BC Kyiv | ||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Mens Sana Siena | ||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Reggiana | ||||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Baskonia | ||||||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||||||
| 2007–2010 | Benetton Treviso (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Istrana | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | UCAM Murcia (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014 | UCAM Murcia | ||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Lietuvos rytas Vilnius | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Hapoel Jerusalem (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Bamberg (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Forlì | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | Gipuzkoa | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Treviso | ||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Scafati Basket | ||||||||||||||
| 2025–present | Treviso | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Stats at Basketball Reference | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Professional career
Nicola was selected 50th overall in the 1993 NBA draft, but remained in Europe and won the Saporta Cup in 1996 with Taugrés, the team in which he made his debut in the Spanish ACB League. In 1997 he was signed by Barcelona who paid Taugres 120 million pesetas (720,000 euros) for the transfer and the Argentine signed a contract for four years.[3]
In 1997, he played his best basketball for Benetton Treviso, with which he lifted another Saporta Cup trophy in 1999, and he was selected to the All-EuroLeague Second Team for the Euroleague 2001–02 season. He also made it to the Euroleague 2002–03 final game.
National team career
Nicola was a member of the Argentine national basketball team. With the junior national team of Argentina, he played at the 1993 FIBA Under-21 World Cup. With Argentina's senior men's national team, he played at the 1994 FIBA World Championship, the 1996 Olympics, and the 1998 FIBA World Championship.
Coaching career
In 2012, Nicola started his coach career as assistant coach in Liga ACB team UCAM Murcia.[4] In 2014, after the sacking of Óscar Quintana, he was named the head coach of the team.
In February 2015, he became the head coach of Lietuvos rytas Vilnius team (Lithuania) after Virginijus Šeškus release. On 16 November 2015 it was announced that Nicola was fired from Lietuvos rytas Vilnius due to poor results.[5]
In the beginning of 2016–17 season he joined his former coach Simone Pianigiani at the Israeli club Hapoel Jerusalem.
On 8 September 2017 Nicola came back to Baskonia, where he played six years, for being the coordinator of the youth teams of the club.[6]
On 2 June 2024 he signed with Scafati Basket of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).[7]