Under the item icons of Italian sport, Dino Meneghin almost fails to enter even the line that contains his name. And not only because the more than two meters high would require an ad personam niche: what is difficult to contain is the extraordinary career that he has been able to offer to the world of Italian basketball, of which he has been for at least three decades more than just a lighthouse. . One that, if he had been born ten, twenty or (better still) 30 years later, Italy would certainly have enjoyed it very little, because the natural attraction would have been the USA and the great NBA basketball arenas. In short, it is a privilege to have enjoyed it for so long, thanks to a career that has far exceeded that of a normal player of his caliber. One who even wanted to go so far as to decide to play with his son Andrea, a bit like LeBron would like to do with his Bronny in a few seasons. It would still come second, James: the Meneghin from this point of view were light years ahead.
THE GOLDEN CYCLE OF VARESE, THE ONLY SKI NBA
Even today that he turns 72, trusting in a gift from his beloved Olimpia (together with Varese, a sort of spiritual place where he taught basketball to the whole world), Dino Meneghin is a young man who shoots basketball from every pore. And to say that since he began to dribble, many things have changed: the three-point shot did not yet exist, the free throws were optional (you could choose whether to throw them or whether to hit a throw-in), the seasons were played with a round trip (the play-offs will take over only at mid-career), the man hadn’t even gone to the moon yet, but when he hangs up his boots there was a robot that was about to land on Mars. No one has ever collected 28 consecutive Italian championships like Dino, originally from a small town in the Belluno area, Alano di Piave (less than 3,000 souls), to whom he gave immortal glory. To introduce little Meneghin to the world, just 16 years old, was Nico Messina, basketball teacher, head of the youth sector of Ignis Varese in the mid-60s. He sees him play, takes him under his wing and makes his debut in Serie A on November 27, 1966 against Fargas Livorno, a game in which Dino scores 10 points and contributes to the victory of the Varese team. It is the beginning of a long love story, the most profitable that Italian basketball can remember: in 15 seasons, up to 1981, Meneghin will not only become the undisputed lighthouse of Varese, but also one of the most successful athletes in continental basketball. The titles are wasted: 7 Italian championships, 4 Italian Cups, 5 Champions Cups, 2 Cups Cups, 2 Intercontinental Cups. In 1970 they even call him to the NBA draft: the Atlanta Hakws select him at the 182nd call, but he will find out only many years later (at the time communications were still very fragmented…). The Ignis cycle closes in the early 1980s, thanks to the troubles of the Borghi family, owner of the club. And Meneghin, for obvious cash reasons, is sacrificed on the altar of the restart: he is sold to Billy Milano.
THE YEARS OF THE RED SHOES, THE PRIDE OF MILAN
The legend of Olimpia’s red shoes is still well etched in the memory of fans. And Dino of that team is the leader, as well as the emblem: coach Dan Peterson on the bench, plus Mike D’Antoni in directing, create an ideal environment around the lighthouse of the Italian movement to open a new cycle of successes. The scudetto of the second star arrives immediately, above all the magical European nights begin: the Olimpia of the 80s is the striking copy of the Milan to drink, the one that experiences a period of intense euphoria and success. There will be champions of the caliber of Bob McAdoo, Antoine Carr, Joe Barry Carroll, and young Italians such as Vittorio Gallinari (Danilo’s father), Roberto Premier and Riccardo Pittis. Another 4 scudettos arrive by return of post, two more Champions Cups, as well as as many Italian Cups, a Korac Cup and an Intercontinental Cup. Italian basketball elects him as a legendary player, also because in the meantime the triumphs with the national team also arrive: after the European bronzes of 1971 and 1975, in 1980 at the Olympic Games in Moscow we miss a silver, and in 1983 at the European Championships gold finally arrives from France, the apogee of an inimitable career, which will see him take the field 272 in blue (only Marzorati, with 277, better than him).
HONORS EVERYWHERE, THE LEGACY OF ANDREA
Meneghin in 1990 will say goodbye to Olimpia (who will later retire the number 11 shirt) to marry for three years at Stefanel Trieste, without leaving a big trace. And to end his career, in 1993-94, he will decide to return to Milan again, just to end his adventure in style. Meanwhile, his son Andrea, born in 1974, is already an established player from Varese, who in 1999 will bring back to the roof of Italy at the end of an iconic season (with him, on the pitch, also a fabulous Pozzecco). And if he finds himself against him in a game that has gone down in the history of Italian basketball. The dynasty is in good hands, and they also notice Dino on the other side of the ocean: in 2003 he was inducted into the Springfield Hall of Fame, the highest recognition for a basketball player. He will later become president of Federbasket, which in 2018 elected him honorary president. But any recognition in front of Meneghin has little value: it is his own greatness that tells the world how unique and unrepeatable he was.
(Credits: Getty Image)
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