By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
The jersey #11 will be retired by Olimpia Milan to honor Dino Meneghin, the Italian club announced on Monday. The jersey retirement ceremony will take place on November 19th in halftime of the EuroLeague match between AX Armani Exchange Milan and Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv.
Per Milan: “The “DINO MENEGHIN NIGHT” is coming. On Tuseday, November 19th, during the halftime of the EuroLeague game between Olimpia Milan and Maccabi Tel Aviv, Dino Meneghin career in Milano will be celebrated and his jersey number 11 will be officially retired.
“It is an honor for Olimpia and its ownership, for Mr.Armani – says the Club President, Pantaleo Dell’Orco -, to have the opportunity to honor and celebrate one of the greatest champions of our history, a man who gave so much to Italian basketball, not only to Milan, and was a role model because of his team spirit, his pride and the heart that have always characterized the players most appreciated by our fans. Retiring Dino Meneghin’s number 11 is not a prize for his career, but a duty for everything he represents and an immense pleasure.”
“It’s a great surprise that was given to me. I wish to thank Mr. Giorgio Armani, our President Dell’Orco, Ettore Messina and the entire Olimpia organization – Dino Meneghin says – To know that the number 11 will be retired, and that this privilege is only reserved for a selected few, is an immense honor. I’m rewarded, but this is really a reward that goes to all my teammates, the guys that helped me along this journey.”
Born in Alano di Piave, Belluno, on January 18, 1950, but raised in Varese, Dino Meneghin started to play basketball when he interrupted his promising shot-put career. At the age of 16 he got his first call-up with the National Team. After igniting the Varese dynasty, winning five European titles, in 1981 he was traded to Olimpia. In Milan, Meneghin led Olimpia to eight consecutive finals with five championships won, two European Cups won, a Korac Cup, an Intercontinental Cup, the 1987 Grand Slam. In 1970, he became the first Italian player selected in the NBA draft, by the Atlanta Hawks. With the National Team, he played four Olympics, and won the silver medal in 1980; he won the 1983 European title and the bronze medal in 1971 and 1975.After leaving Olimpia in 1991, he spent three seasons in Trieste and then finished his career in 1994 with one more season in Milan. In 2003, he was inducted into the Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame, in 2006 in the Italian Hall of Fame and in 2010 in the Fiba Hall of Fame. In 2009, he became President of the Italian Federation, a position that he held until 2012.
Olimpia previously retired Arthur Kenney’s number 18 jersey and Mike D’Antoni’s number 8.”