Antonio Diaz-Miguel
From Hoopedia
Antonio Díaz-Miguel (born July 6, 1933 in Alcázar de San Juan, Ciudad Real, Spain – died February 21, 2000 in Madrid, Spain) was a Spanish player and coach. He studied in Madrid and graduated from the University of Bilbao.
He was coach of the Spain national basketball team for 27 years (1965-92). In more than 300 games, Diaz-Miguel guided the Spanish National Team to six Olympic games, including a silver medal in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the highest finish for the Spanish National Team ever. Diaz-Miguel's Spanish National teams participated in 14 European Championships and four FIBA World Championships. His teams' best finishes were silver medals (1973, 1983) and one bronze medal (1991) in the European Championships.
He was named "Spanish Coach of the year" in 1981 and 1982. Diaz-Miguel coached six times European All-Star teams, created only for special events in Europe. A pioneer in the worldwide promotion of basketball, he won numerous coaching awards and was a frequent basketball lecturer around the world.
Although initially a soccer player in his youth, his physical characteristics (he stood 6'8") and his determination, contributed to his start in basketball at the Instituto Ramiro de Maeztu Secondary School of Madrid, where the Estudiantes ("students") Club was founded in 1950 with pupils and teachers of the School. He was a player of Estudiantes Club of Madrid in 1950-52 and 1953-58, and played later also for Real Madrid (1958-61) and Aguilas of Bilbao (1961-63). He was 27 times selected as a player on the Spanish National Team.
He won the Spanish Clubs League Championship twice, in 1959 and 1960 with Real Madrid. Immediately after retirement, he started coaching Aguilas, becoming afterwards provisionally and nearly by chance coach of the Spanish National Team, where he managed to develop a longstanding sensation for the team and basketball in Spain.
He was enshrined in the Niasmith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach on September 29, 1997. He is the only Spaniard in the Hall.
