Marcelo Patricio Nicola Virginio (born May 12, 1971) is an Argentine-Italian former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player and a current coach. A very versatile

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

, he was a regular member of the

Argentine national basketball team The Argentina men's national basketball team () represents Argentina in men's international basketball officially nicknamed ''The Argentine Soul'' (), and it is controlled by the Argentine Basketball Federation. Argentina's national basketbal ...

, and competed many years in the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

. He was most recently the head coach for

Scafati Basket Scafati Basket, known for sponsorship reasons as Givova Scafati, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Scafati, Campania. The club competes in the top level Italian professional basketball league, the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Hi ...

of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

(LBA).

Professional career

Nicola was selected 50th overall in the

1993 NBA draft The 1993–94 NBA season, 1993 NBA draft took place on June 30, 1993, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The draft had some talented players at the top, but injuries and personal problems hurt many of them. Chris Webber, Pen ...

, but remained in Europe and won the

Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners Cup'', was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against eac ...

in 1996 with Taugrés, the team in which he made his debut in the

Spanish ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

. He played his best basketball for Benetton Treviso, with which he lifted another

trophy in 1999, and he was selected to the

All-EuroLeague The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honor ...

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

. With the junior national team of Argentina, he played at the 1993

FIBA Under-21 World Cup The FIBA Under-21 World Championship was a men's under-21-only basketball competition organized by the International Basketball Federation The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizat ...

. With Argentina's senior men's national team, he played at the

1994 FIBA World Championship The 1994 FIBA World Championship was the 12th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Canada from August 4 to 14, 1994. The tournament was held at SkyDome ...

, the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, and the

1998 FIBA World Championship The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), and hosted in Greece ...

Coaching career

In 2012, Nicola started his coach career as assistant coach in

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

team UCAM Murcia. 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 November 16, 2015, it was announced that Nicola was fired from Lietuvos rytas Vilnius due to poor results. In the beginning of 2016–17 season he joined his former coach Simone Pianigiani at the Israeli club

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's lead ...

. 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. On June 2, 2024, he signed with

of the

(LBA).

References

External links

Euroleague.net Profile
*
NBA Draft ProfileSpanish League Profile

Italian League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicola, Marcelo 1971 births Living people 20th-century Argentine sportsmen 20th-century Italian sportsmen 21st-century Argentine sportsmen 21st-century Italian sportsmen 1994 FIBA World Championship players 1998 FIBA World Championship players Argentine basketball coaches Argentine emigrants to Italy Argentine expatriate basketball people in Italy Argentine expatriate basketball people in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Greece Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Argentine men's basketball players Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Santa Fe Province BC Kyiv players FC Barcelona Bàsquet players Greek Basket League players Houston Rockets draft picks Italian basketball coaches Italian expatriate basketball people in Spain Italian men's basketball players Liga ACB head coaches Liga ACB players Mens Sana Basket players Olympic basketball players for Argentina Pallacanestro Reggiana players Pallacanestro Treviso players Panathinaikos B.C. players Power forwards Saski Baskonia players Small forwards Sportspeople from Rafaela United States Basketball League players