Marcelo Nicola

Marcelo Nicola with Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
Personal information
Born	(1971-05-12) May 12, 1971 (age 52) Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina
Nationality	Argentine / Italian
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
NBA draft	1993: 2nd round, 50th overall pick
Selected by the Houston Rockets
Playing career	1988–2007
Position	Power forward
Number	4, 11, 13
Coaching career	2014–present
Career history
As player:
1988–1989	Sport Club Cañadense
1989–1991	Taugrés
1991	Long Island Surf
1991–1996	Taugrés
1996–1997	Panathinaikos
1997–1998	FC Barcelona
1998–2004	Benetton Treviso
2004–2005	BC Kyiv
2005–2006	Montepaschi Siena
2006	Bipop-Carire Reggio Emilia
2006–2007	Tau Cerámica
As coach:
2012–2014	UCAM Murcia (assistant)
2014	UCAM Murcia
2015	Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
2016–2017	Hapoel Jerusalem (assistant)
2018–2019	Brose Bamberg (assistant)
2018–2019	Forlì
2019–2021	Gipuzkoa
2022–2023	Universo Treviso
Career highlights and awards
As player FIBA Intercontinental Cup champion (1996) 2x FIBA Saporta Cup (1996, 1999) All-EuroLeague Second Team (2002) 2x Italian League champion (2002, 2003) 3x Italian Cup winner (2000, 2003, 2004) 2x Italian Supercup winner (2001, 2002) Spanish Cup winner (1995) As head coach Copa Princesa de Asturias (2020)
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals Men's Basketball Representing  Argentina FIBA AmeriCup 1995 Argentina

Marcelo Patricio Nicola Virginio (born May 12, 1971) is an Argentine-Italian^[1][2] former professional basketball player and a current coach. A very versatile power forward, he was a regular member of the Argentine national basketball team, and competed many years in the EuroLeague.

Professional career

Nicola was selected 50th overall in the 1993 NBA draft, but remained in Europe and won the Saporta Cup in 1996 with Taugrés, the team in which he made his debut in the Spanish ACB League. He played his best basketball for Benetton Treviso, with which he lifted another Saporta Cup trophy in 1999, and he was selected to the All-EuroLeague Second Team for the Euroleague 2001–02 season. He also made it to the Euroleague 2002–03 final game.

National team career

Nicola was a member of the Argentine national basketball team. With the junior national team of Argentina, he played at the 1993 FIBA Under-21 World Cup. With Argentina's senior men's national team, he played at the 1994 FIBA World Championship, the 1996 Olympics, and the 1998 FIBA World Championship.

Coaching career

In 2012, Nicola started his coach career as assistant coach in Liga ACB team UCAM Murcia.^[3] In 2014, after the sacking of Óscar Quintana, he was named the head coach of the team.

In February 2015, he became the head coach of Lietuvos rytas Vilnius team (Lithuania) after Virginijus Šeškus release. On November 16, 2015, it was announced that Nicola was fired from Lietuvos rytas Vilnius due to poor results.^[4]

In the beginning of 2016–17 season he joined his former coach Simone Pianigiani at the Israeli club Hapoel Jerusalem.

On 8 September 2017, Nicola came back to Baskonia, where he played six years, for being the coordinator of the youth teams of the club.^[5]