Daniel Lorenzo Hackett (born December 19, 1987) is an American-Italian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

of the Italian

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tie ...

(LBA) and the EuroLeague. Standing at , he can play at both the point guard and shooting guard positions.

Early life

Hackett was born in

Forlimpopoli Forlimpopoli (; rgn, Frampùl) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Forlì-Cesena, north-eastern Italy. It is located on the Via Emilia between Cesena and Forlì. History The name of Forlimpopoli derives from the Roman ''Forum Popilii' ...

, (Forlì-Cesena), Italy. He was born as the son of Rudy Hackett, an American professional basketball player, who played in both the

ABA ABA may refer to: Businesses and organizations Broadcasting * Alabama Broadcasters Association, United States * Asahi Broadcasting Aomori, Japanese television station * Australian Broadcasting Authority Education * Académie des Beaux- ...

and the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United ...

, and an Italian mother. He grew up in

Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the March ...

, Italy.

High school career

Hackett left Italy to attend high school at

St. John Bosco High School St. John Bosco High School (SJBHS) is a Catholic, all-boys college preparatory high school located in Bellflower, California, and conducted by the San Francisco Province of the Salesians of St. John Bosco. St. John Bosco High School is named ...

Bellflower, California Bellflower is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded in 1906 and incorporated on September 3, 1957. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 79,190, up f ...

, in the United States.

College career

Hackett studied at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

, where he played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

. Starting with his freshman year, he was the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

' point guard, and with the Trojans he played in the NCAA Tournament three times. On November 17, 2007, Hackett had his first triple double with the Trojans', putting on the score sheet 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.

Professional career

Seasons in Italy, Greece and Germany (2009–2018)

After going

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in the

2009 NBA draft The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other el ...

, Hacket signed a one-year deal with Benetton Treviso of the Italian

LBA LBA or lba may refer to: Science * Live blood analysis, the observation of live blood cells through a dark field microscope * Long branch attraction, an error in molecular phylogeny * Ligand binding assay, an assay whose procedure relies on the b ...

. In July 2010, he signed a two-year deal with

Scavolini Pesaro Victoria Libertas (also known as "VL" or in Italian ''Vuelle''), full name Unione Sportiva Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro, is a professional basketball team that is based in Pesaro, Italy. The club competes in the top level Italian professiona ...

. In 2012, he signed a two-year deal with the Italian team Montepaschi Siena. In his first season with the team, he was named, both Italian League Finals and Italian Cup most valuable player. Also, in his first career EuroLeague season, he averaged 7.2 points, 3 assists, and 2.3 rebounds over 22 games. On December 24, 2013, he signed a three-year deal with EA7 Emporio Armani Milano. On June 19, 2015, he parted ways with Milano. On July 15, 2015, Hackett signed a two-year contract with the Greek club

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. With Olympiacos, he won the 2016 Greek League championship. On July 5, 2017, Hackett signed a two-year contract with German club

Brose Bamberg Brose Bamberg is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia / North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup five times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketball ...

CSKA Moscow (2018–2022)

After one season, he parted ways with Brose and signed with the Russian club

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

on July 17, 2018. On February 13, 2020, he signed a two-year contract extension with CSKA. With CSKA, Hackett won the club's eighth EuroLeague title in 2019. Hackett terminated the contract with CSKA in February 2022 due to the country's invasion of Ukraine. Hackett paid CSKA $100,000 to free himself.

Virtus Bologna (2022–present)

Hackett signed with

of the Italian

in 2022. After having ousted

Lietkabelis BC Lietkabelis ( lt, Krepšinio klubas Lietkabelis), also currently known as BC 7bet-Lietkabelis or 7bet-Lietkabelis for sponsorship reasons, is a Lithuanian professional basketball team based in Panevėžys, Lithuania, participating in the Lithu ...

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

in the first three rounds of the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

, on 11 May 2022, Virtus defeated Frutti Extra Bursaspor by 80–67 at the Segafredo Arena, winning its first EuroCup and qualifying for the EuroLeague after 14 years. However, despite having ended the regular season at the first place and having ousted 3–0 both

and

Tortona Tortona (; pms, Torton-a , ; lat, Dhertona) is a ''comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. Histo ...

in the first two rounds of playoffs, Virtus was defeated 4–2 in the national finals by Olimpia Milan. On 29 September 2022, after having ousted Milano in the semifinals, Virtus won its third Supercup, defeating 72–69 Banco di Sardegna Sassari and achieving a back-to-back, following the 2021 trophy. However, Hackett did not play due to an injury.

International career

Daniel Hackett with Italy national basketball team jersey in 2012

Hackett played with the Italian junior national teams. With Italy's junior national team, he played at the

2007 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2007 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship was the tenth edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The cities of Nova Gorica, in Slovenia, and Gorizia, in Italy, hosted the tournament. Serbia won their first title with that name

, where he won a bronze medal. He averaged 9.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game at that tournament. Hackett was then a member of the senior men's

Italian national basketball team The Italy men's national basketball team ( it, Nazionale di pallacanestro dell'Italia) represents Italy in international basketball tournaments. They are administered by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). Italy has qualified for 38 EuroB ...

at the

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted the 1939 cha ...

, in Lithuania. He was also a member of the senior Italian national team that took part in

EuroBasket 2015 EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 Sept ...

, which started on 5 September. He also played at the 2016 Turin FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Career statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, style="text-align:left;" rowspan=3, Montepaschi/

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

, EuroLeague , 22 , , 22.1 , , .414 , , .311 , , .722 , , 2.3 , , 3.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 7.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , EuroLeague , 27 , , 28.7 , , .390 , , .346 , , .733 , , 3.7 , , 4.3 , , 1.2 , , .0 , , 10.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , EuroLeague , 24 , , 28.7 , , .390 , , .250 , , .658 , , 3.7 , , 4.6 , , .8 , , .0 , , 10.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2,

, EuroLeague , 24 , , 19.5 , , .481 , , .393 , , .813 , , 2.3 , , 2.3 , , .8 , , .1 , , 8.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , EuroLeague , 11 , , 14.3 , , .394 , , .267 , , .773 , , 1.5 , , 1.6 , , .5 , , .0 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, EuroLeague , 26 , , 24.0 , , .497 , , .369 , , .808 , , 2.7 , , 3.4 , , .4 , , .0 , , 9.6 , - , style="text-align:left, 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=4,

, EuroLeague , 35 , , 17.4 , , .434 , , .392 , , .825 , , 1.8 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .0 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , EuroLeague , 23 , , 20.0 , , .395 , , .442 , , .806 , , 2.6 , , 2.7 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 8.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, EuroLeague , 29 , , 24.0 , , .446 , , .453 , , .848 , , 2.7 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 9.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , EuroLeague , 17 , , 20.1 , , .444 , , .317 , , .704 , , 1.6 , , 2.1 , , 0.9 , , .5 , , 6.6 , - , -class=sortbottom , align="center" colspan=3 , Career , 260 , , 23.9 , , .436 , , .338 , , .757 , , 3.0 , , 3.1 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 9.2