Cesare Rubini, Italian basketball player and coach, water polo player died he was 87

Cesare Rubini  was an Italian basketball player and coach, and water polo player,died he was 87. One of the greatest European coaches of all time, Rubini was inducted intto the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994, the first and to this day one of the few Italian basketball figures to receive such an honour, together with Dino Meneghin and Sandro Gamba. He has also been inducted in the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

(November 2, 1923 – February 8, 2011)

 Career

Rubini started to play basketball for his high school team in his native Trieste, where he graduated in 1941. The same year he began to play for Olimpia Milano, the most prestigious Italian basketball club at that time. He however had a long-lived passion for water polo: this led him later to become one of the rare world sportsmen to play at the highest level in two different team sports.
In 1946 he won a silver medal with the Italian basketball national team in the European Championships held in Geneva. The following year, he also won a silver medal at the European Championships, but this time with the water polo national team. In the meantime he had assumed the role of player-coach of Olimpia Milano: in 1948, however, he was called by the national teams of both sports. Rubini chose water polo, and won a gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, beating The Netherlands in the final. With Rubini as a full-time player, Italy could boast what was to be called the "Golden Settebello", one of the most valuable water polo teams ever, which also won a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics and at the Turin European Championships of 1954. In both the events, Italy was behind traditional rivals of Yugoslavia and Hungary.
Rubini, also as player-coach, won 6 national titles in water polo with Canottieri Olona of Milan, Rari Nantes of Naples and Camogli teams. He totalled 84 caps for the Italian national team, 42 of which as captain.
As a basketball player, Rubini won 5 national titles in a row, from 1950 to 1954. After 1956 he devoted only to the coach role, winning 10 national titles with Olimpia. In these years he set an unparalleled record of a 322 victories and 28 defeats. As coach of the Milan team, Rubini totalled 488 victories, including the European Winner's Cup of 1966 and two European Cup Winner's Cups in 1971 and 1972: these were the first international victories of Italian basketball clubs.
As the manager of the national basketball team, Rubini took also part in the first international victories of Italy: these include the silver medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics. At the European Championships, Italy was first in 1983 at Nantes, second in 1991 at Rome and third in 1985 at Stuttgart.
Rubini was involved into his beloved sports until his death: he promoted water polo formation for young athletes, and was Honorary President of Olimpia Milano.

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