Spanish basketball player and coach
In this
Spanish name
, the first or paternal
surname
is
Diaz-Miguel
and the second or maternal family name is
Sanz
.
Antonio Diaz-Miguel Sanz
(July 6, 1933 ? February 21, 2000) was a Spanish professional
basketball
player and
coach
. He studied in
Madrid
, and graduated from the
University of Bilbao
.
A pioneer in the worldwide promotion of basketball, he won several coaching awards, and was a frequent basketball lecturer around the world. He was enshrined into the
Basketball Hall of Fame
, as a
coach
, on September 29, 1997. In 2007, he was enshrined into the
FIBA Hall of Fame
.
Basketball playing career
[
edit
]
Club career
[
edit
]
Although initially a
football
player in his youth, Diaz-Miguel's physical characteristics, including a 1.86 m (6'1 1
1
⁄
4
")
[1]
barefoot height, and also his determination, contributed to his start in
basketball
, as a player, at the Instituto Ramiro de Maeztu Secondary School of Madrid, where the
Estudiantes
("students") club was founded in 1950, with pupils and teachers of the school. He was a player of
Estudiantes Club of Madrid
in 1950?52, and 1953?1958, and later also played with
Real Madrid
(1958?1961), and Aguilas Bilbao (1961?1963). He won the
top-tier
level
Spanish Clubs League
championship twice, in 1960 and 1961, with
Real Madrid
.
Spain national team
[
edit
]
Diaz-Miguel had 27
caps
as a player of the senior
Spain national basketball team
. He won a gold medal at the
1955 Mediterranean Games
. He also won a silver medal at the
1959 Mediterranean Games
.
Basketball coaching career
[
edit
]
Immediately after his retirement from his basketball playing career, Diaz-Miguel started
coaching
Aguilas Bilbao. Following that, he later provisionally, and nearly by chance, became the
head coach
of the senior Spain National Team, where he managed to develop longstanding success for the team, and the sport of basketball in Spain. He was the head coach of the senior
Spain national basketball team
, for as long as 27 years (1965?1992).
[2]
In 431
games
coached,
[3]
Diaz-Miguel guided the Spain National Team to six
Summer Olympic Games
tournaments, including a silver medal at the
1984 Summer Olympic Games
, in
Los Angeles
. That was the top classification for the Spain National Team until the
2008 Summer Olympics
, when they finished second again. Diaz-Miguel's Spain National teams also participated in 13
EuroBaskets
and four
FIBA World Cups
, and his team's best finishes were two silver medals (
EuroBasket 1973
,
EuroBasket 1983
), and one bronze medal (
EuroBasket 1991
) in the EuroBasket. He also won a silver medal at the
1987 Mediterranean Games
.
He was named
"Spanish Coach of the Year"
, in 1981 and 1983. Diaz-Miguel was selected as a coach of the
FIBA European Selection
teams five times.
References
[
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]
External links
[
edit
]
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