Luca Vitali (born 9 May 1986) is an Italian 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 for

Pallacanestro Cantù Pallacanestro Cantù, known for sponsorship reasons as Acqua S.Bernardo Cantù, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Cantù, Lombardy. On the European-wide club competition scene, Cantù is second to Real Madrid – agai ...

of the Italian Serie A2. He's a versatile player who can play as a

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

, defending on nearly any opponent thanks to his height and wingspan.

Professional career

Progressing through the youth ranks of home town club

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 ...

he unusually made his debut for the team in Europe's premier competition, 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 ...

, playing a few minutes in 2003. He would make his first division debut the next year after moving to

Montepaschi Siena Mens Sana Basketball Siena, also known as simply Mens Sana, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Siena. It is a section of the sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871. Under the name Montepaschi Siena, derived from spon ...

, then the strongest side in Italy. After playing little part in their championship winning season he dropped down a division to join

LegaDue Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian league pyramid, below the first division LBA and above the third division Serie B, with ...

club Sutor Montegranaro. This proved to be a fruitful move for both sides, he became a starter, helped promote the club to the first division in 2006 and then on to the playoffs, his good performances even led to a call up to the league All star game. In 2008 he was recruited by ambitious club Armani Jeans Milano with which he rediscovered the

, he was instrumental in the progress of Milano to the Top 16, scoring a team European record 32 points against

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis''), ...

to finish third in their group. However Vitali's time at Armani Jeans ended on a sour note when the club cancelled the last 2 years of his contract, he then joined rivals

Lottomatica Roma Virtus Roma 1960, commonly known as Virtus Roma, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. The club, named Pallacanestro Virtus Roma competed in the first division of Italian basketball, the LBA, for decades until 2020, whe ...

. After two years in Rome followed by a brief return to former youth side

he joined

Vanoli Cremona Guerino Vanoli Basket, also known as Vanoli Cremona, is a professional basketball team of the city of Cremona. The team played in the Lega Basket Serie A, LBA, the top Italian basketball league, for 12 years until 2021. From 1999 to 2011 the soci ...

. There he flourished, becoming an undisputed starter for the team and having career best figures in nearly all areas, helping his team escape relegation. Wanting to play for a stronger side he joined ambitious Umana Venezia, there he had a mixed season, his talent obvious but his play not always consistent. This brought him to return to the club where he had the most personal success, Cremona, where he was appointed captain. On 18 May 2015, Vitali signed with Herbalife Gran Canaria until the end of the 2014–15 ACB season. In July 2015, he returned to Vanoli Cremona. On 2 April 2022, he has signed with

of the Italian Serie A2.

Career statistics

Euroleague

Source: , - , style="text-align:left;", 2002–03 , style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 3.30 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0 , , -1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 2.15 , , 0.0 , , 100.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1,5 , , -1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;", AJ Milano , 13 , , 8 , , 24.19 , , 44.8 , , 44.4 , , 91.4 , , 1.4 , , 2.3 , , 0.6 , , 0.0 , , 10.9 , , 8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 1 , , 19.55 , , 33.3 , , 29.4 , , 100.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 5.2 , , 1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

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

, 10 , , 0 , , 19.08 , , 38.9 , , 40.0 , , 63.6 , , 1.8 , , 1.6 , , 0.9 , , 0 , , 6 , , 4.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 33 , , 9 , , 13.65 , , 23.4 , , 42.32 , , 51.0 , , 0.94 , , 0.98 , , 0.34 , , 0.04 , , 4.72 , , 2.34

International career

After a period with the under-age Italian team, Vitali joined the senior national team from 2007. He was regularly called up from there on but remained a fringe player, part of Italy's

EuroBasket 2013 EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France men's national basketball ...

squad, he played sparingly. He started commanding more game time in EuroBasket 2015 qualification that saw Italy qualify for the tournament. He was called up to the preliminary squad for

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 ...

, but was injured during the tournament preparation and had to leave the team before the main tournament.

Personal life

He comes from a basketball family as his brother is fellow player

Michele Vitali Michele Vitali (born 31 October 1991) is an Italian professional basketball player for Pallacanestro Reggiana, Reggio Emilia of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) as a shooting guard. Personal life His brother is fellow pro basketball player ...

with whom he played one season for

and presently for the

Italian national basketball team The Italy men's national basketball team () represents Italy in international basketball tournaments. They are administered by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). Italy has qualified for 38 EuroBasket tournaments, winning two gold medals ( ...

, their parents were also players."Luca Vitali - Profilo"
'' Legabasket''. Retrieved on 16 March 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitali, Luca 1986 births Living people 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Pallacanestro Brescia players CB Gran Canaria players Italian expatriate basketball people in Spain Italian men's basketball players Lega Basket Serie A players Liga ACB players Mens Sana Basket players Olimpia Milano players Virtus Roma players Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Bologna Point guards Reyer Venezia players Sutor Basket Montegranaro players Vanoli Cremona players Virtus Bologna players Napoli Basket (2016) players 21st-century Italian sportsmen