Ettore Messina will be the new coach of the Italian National Team

For the third time in his career, Ettore Messina will lead the Italian National Team. However, that will be AFTER the Tokyo Pre-Olympic Tournament.

The current National Team coach is Romeo Sachetti. His relationship with the Italian Basketball Federation has been problematic, so he is expected to leave the bench after the Pre-Olympic Tournament.

Ettore Messina allegedly has a verbal agreement with the Italian Basketball Federation with an opt-out if his current obligations towards Armani Milano would be too much to combine with the Italian National Team.

In that case, the Italian Basketball Federation already has a back-up candidate in Umana Reyer Venice’s Walter De Raffaele. He has been having much success with the club in the past four years, winning two Italian championships, one Italian Cup, and one FIBA Europe Cup.

The current National Team coach, Sachetti, will lead Italy in the Pre-Olympic Tournament and the Olympics if they qualify. However, Messina would take over the national team afterward and prepare for the EuroBasket.

Italy secured a spot in the EuroBasket 2022 as one of the hosts, but they also ended up as the top-placed team in Group B with a 4-2 record, although they lost both games in the last window of the qualifiers.