Italy has a new superstar in the making. Duke's forward, Paolo Banchero, is projected to be one of the top picks in the 2022 NBA Draft. With March Madness around the corner, BasketNews takes a look at what makes the 19-year old such an attractive choice for GMs of the NBA. If the Italian-American forward is picked in the Top 10 of the upcoming Draf...

If you like the fast paced action of basketball, give thanks to an immigrant to America from Abruzzo. Dante Biasone was born in the town of Miglianico (population 4,529 in the 2004 Census) in the province of Chieti in the region of Abruzzo, on February 22, 1909. When he was 10, he immigrated with his parents and his brother to Syracuse, New York. W...

The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) is set to honor NIAF Chairman Emeritus Jerry Colangelo at the Foundation’s Arizona Regional Gala in Phoenix on Saturday, March 19, 2022, at the iconic Arizona Biltmore Hotel, a Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Colangelo will be receiving the inaugural Jerry Colangelo Sports Excellence Award in recognition of hi...

Italian/American prospect Paolo Banchero is listed at no.2 in the latest edition of the ESPN NBA Mock Draft. Duke's big man is right behind Gonzaga unicorn Chet Holmgren, who's currently the no.1 prospect in Jonathan Givony's mock draft.  Banchero is averaging 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game so far this season, shooting 51% from the...

In 1984, when Kobe Bryant was 6, his father, Joe, uprooted him and his family to Italy to eke out a few more paychecks after an eight-year NBA career. A 6-foot-9 forward, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant had played for the Philadelphia 76ers, the San Diego Clippers and the Houston Rockets, and had now accepted an offer to play for Sebastani Rieti, based in t...

In the chapel of a small hillside sanctuary in Porretta Terme — a handsome town in central Italy known for the healing powers of its thermal waters — a single basketball-shaped window, its panes curved like seams, poured light on walls filled with basketball jerseys. On a table, a notebook contained pages of devotionals, including gratitude for a h...

Dick Vitale announced that he would be taking a break from announcing games on ESPN, on the advice of his doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital. He used one of his signature commentary lines to make the announcement via ESPN’s public relations site. In the release, Vitale revealed that his doctor at Mass General, Dr. Steven Zeitels, diagnosed h...

The year 2021 is ending and for Italian sport it will remain the most beautiful year in its history. After a beginning without great satisfaction, from July onwards the tricolor flag began to wave all over the world thanks to the amazing victories of the Azzurri in every sport and on every continent. It all started with the victory of the European...

The battle between the two best players in college basketball, and perhaps the sport’s two best teams, didn’t disappoint late on Friday night. If we’re lucky, the contest in Las Vegas was just a preview of what will make for a tremendous deep NCAA tournament battle come March. Potential top draft pick Paolo Banchero and No. 5 Duke held on to knock...

When Jerry Colangelo was 7 years old, he was given his first basketball, a simple act that ignited the fuse to an extraordinarily successful career in national and international sports. “I smelled the leather, and it was the beginning of a love affair that has lasted a lifetime,” Colangelo tells Fra Noi in a wide-ranging interview about his life an...