View source for Cesare Rubini

{{short description|Italian water polo and basketball player}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name            = Cesare Rubini
| image           = Cesare Rubini (as basket player).jpg
| image_size      = 190px
| caption         = Rubini (with the basketball in his hands).
| height_ft       = 
| height_in       = 
| weight_lb       = 
| league          = 
| team            = 
| position        =
| number          = 
| nationality     = Italian
| birth_date      = {{birth date|df=y|1923|11|02}}
| birth_place     = [[Trieste]], Italy
| high_school     =
| death_date      = {{death date and age|df=y|2011|02|08|1923|11|02}}
| college         = 
| draft_year      = 
| career_start    = 1948
| career_end      = 1957
| career_position = 
| career_number   = 
| coach_start     = 1957
| coach_end       = 1973
| years1          = 1948–1957
| team1           = [[Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano|Olimpia Milano]]
| cyears1         = 1957–1973
| cteam1          = [[Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano|Olimpia Milano]]
| highlights      = 
'''As a player:'''
*6× [[Lega Basket Serie A|Italian League]] champion (1950–1954, 1957)
'''As a head coach:'''
*[[EuroLeague]] champion (1966)
*2× [[FIBA Saporta Cup]] champion (1971, 1972)
*9× [[Lega Basket Serie A|Italian League]] champion (1958–1960, 1962, 1963, 1965–1967, 1972)
*[[Italian Basketball Cup|Italian Cup]] winner (1972)
*[[FIBA Order of Merit]] (2002)
*[[Italian Basketball Hall of Fame]] (2006)
*[[Walk of Fame of Italian sport]] (2015)
| HOF_coach       = cesare-rubini
| FIBA_HOF_coach  = Cesare-Rubini
| medaltemplates  =
{{MedalSport|Men's [[Basketball]]}}
{{MedalCountry|{{bk|ITA}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[FIBA EuroBasket]]}}
{{MedalSilver|[[EuroBasket 1946|1946 Switzerland]] | }}}}
{{Infobox water polo biography
| name           = Cesare Rubini
| image          = Cesare Rubini (basketball player, basketball coach, water polo player, born 1923).jpg
| image_size     = 190px
| caption        = Rubini, circa 1948.
| birth_date     = {{birth date|df=y|1923|11|02}}
| birth_place    = [[Trieste]], Italy
| death_date     = {{death date and age|df=y|2011|02|08|1923|11|02}}
| death_place    = [[Milan]], Italy
| years1         = 1947–1948	
| clubs1         = Società Canottieri Olona
| years2         = 1949–1951	
| clubs2         = Rari Nantes Napoli
| years3         = 1952–1956	
| clubs3         = Rari Nantes Camogli
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Men's [[Water polo at the Summer Olympics|Water Polo]]}}
{{MedalCountry|{{ITA}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Water polo at the Summer Olympics|Olympics]]}}
{{MedalGold  | [[1948 Summer Olympics|1948 London]]| [[Water polo at the 1948 Summer Olympics|National Team]]}}
{{MedalBronze| [[1952 Summer Olympics|1952 Helsinki]]| [[Water polo at the 1952 Summer Olympics|National Team]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[European Water Polo Championship]]}}
{{MedalGold  | [[European Water Polo Championship|1947 Monaco]]| [[Italy men's national water polo team|National Team]]}}
{{MedalBronze| [[European Water Polo Championship|1954 Italy]]| [[Italy men's national water polo team|National Team]]}}}}
'''Cesare Rubini''' (2 November 1923{{spaced ndash}}8 February 2011) was an Italian professional [[basketball]] player and [[basketball coach|coach]], and a [[water polo]] player. He was considered to be one of the greatest European basketball coaches of all time. Rubini was inducted into the [[List of coaches in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame|Basketball Hall of Fame]] in 1994, making him the first, and to this day, just one of three Italian basketball figures to receive such an honour, alongside [[Dino Meneghin]] and [[Sandro Gamba]]. He was also inducted into the [[International Swimming Hall of Fame]] in 2000.

In 2002, he was awarded the [[FIBA Order of Merit]]. He was inducted into the [[Italian Basketball Hall of Fame]], in 2006. He was also inducted into the [[FIBA Hall of Famer|FIBA Hall of Fame]], in 2013. In 2015, he was inducted into the [[Walk of Fame of Italian sport]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=100 leggende CONI |url=http://www.coni.it/images/CNA_100_Leggende_per_data_di_nascita.pdf |access-date=1 September 2020 |publisher=CONI |language=italian}}</ref>

==Sports biography==
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]]'s junior clubs, the most prestigious [[Lega Basket Serie A|Italian League]] basketball [[sports club|club]] at that time. However, he had a long-lived passion for [[water polo]]: this led him to later become one of the rare world sportsmen to compete at the highest level in two different team sports.

===Water polo career===
As a club [[player-coach]], Rubini won 6 [[Serie A1 (water polo)|Italian national domestic league titles in water polo]] (1947, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1955) with Società Canottieri Olona, Rari Nantes Napoli, and Rari Nantes Camogli. He also totaled 84 [[cap (sports)|caps]], for the senior [[Italy men's national water polo team|Italian water polo national team]], 42 of which were as a team [[captain (sports)|captain]]. He won a gold medal at the 1947 [[European Water Polo Championship]], with the senior Italian national water polo team.

In the meantime, he had also assumed the role of player-coach of the Italian basketball club [[Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano|Olimpia Milano]], in 1948; and he was called by the national teams of both sports (basketball and water polo) to play with them. Rubini chose water polo, and he won a gold medal in the sport, at the [[Water polo at the 1948 Summer Olympics|1948 Summer Olympic Games]], in [[London]], beating the [[Hungary men's national water polo team|Hungary]] 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 [[Water polo at the 1952 Summer Olympics|1952 Summer Olympics]], and at the [[Turin]] [[European Water Polo Championship|European Championship]] of [[1954 in sports|1954]]. In both the events, Italy was behind traditional rivals of [[Yugoslavia men's national water polo team|Yugoslavia]] and [[Hungary men's national water polo team|Hungary]].

===Basketball career===
As a club basketball [[player-coach]], Rubini won 6 [[Lega Basket Serie A|Italian national domestic league]] titles (1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957) with [[Olimpia Milano]]. In 1957, he devoted himself only to the team's [[head coach]] role, and he then went on to win 9 more Italian national domestic league titles with Olimpia (1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1972). In those years, he set an unparalleled record of 322 victories, and 28 defeats. Overall, as head coach of the Milan team, Rubini totaled 501 victories, including the [[EuroLeague|FIBA European Champions Cup]] (EuroLeague) championship in 1966, and two ([[European professional club basketball system|European 2nd-tier]]) level [[FIBA Saporta Cup|FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup]]s (FIBA Saporta Cup) titles, in 1971 and 1972: these were the first European-wide victories of Italian basketball clubs. He also won the [[Italian Basketball Cup|Italian Cup]], in 1972.

As a player, Rubini won a silver medal with the senior [[Italian national basketball team]], at the [[1946 FIBA EuroBasket]], which was held in [[Geneva]]. Later, as the delegation head of the senior Italian national basketball team, Rubini also took part in the first international victories of Italy: these include the silver medal at the [[Basketball at the 1980 Summer Olympics|1980 Summer Olympic Games]]. At the [[FIBA EuroBasket]], Italy finished first at the [[1983 FIBA EuroBasket]], in [[Nantes]], finished third at the [[1985 FIBA EuroBasket]], in [[Stuttgart]], and finished second at the [[1991 FIBA EuroBasket]], in [[Rome]].

==Death==
Rubini was involved with his beloved sports until his death: he promoted [[water polo]] formation for young athletes, and he was the Honorary President of [[Olimpia Milano]]. He died on 8 February 2011.<ref>[https://www.espn.com/espn/print?id=6101663 Cesare Rubini dies; led Italy to silver]</ref>

==See also==
* [[Italy men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics]]
* [[List of Olympic champions in men's water polo]]
* [[List of Olympic medalists in water polo (men)]]
* [[List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame]]
* [[Legends of Italian sport - Walk of Fame]]
* [[List of EuroLeague-winning head coaches]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Sports links|properties=-P4069}}
* {{CONI profile|new_id=793|old_id=426}}
* [http://www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers/cesare-rubini/ Basketball Hall of Fame Coach Profile]
* [http://www.fiba.basketball/hall-of-fame/Cesare-Rubini FIBA Hall of Fame Coach Profile]
* [http://web.legabasket.it/coach/coach.phtml?id=RUB-CES Italian League Profile] {{in lang|it}}

{{Navboxes
|title = Italy squads
|bg = #0066BC
|fg = white
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|list1 = 
{{Italy men's water polo squad 1948 Summer Olympics}}
{{Italy men's water polo squad 1952 Summer Olympics}}
{{Italy men's water polo squad 1956 Summer Olympics}}
}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Club squads
|list1 = 
{{Olimpia Milano 1965-66 Euroleague champions}}
{{Olimpia Milano 1970–71 FIBA European Cup Winner's Cup Champions}}
{{Olimpia Milano 1971–72 FIBA European Cup Winner's Cup Champions}}
}}
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{{1994 Basketball HOF}}
{{Basketball Hall of Fame coaches}}
{{FIBA Hall of Fame}}
{{Walk of Fame of Italian sport}}
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}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubini, Cesare}}
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian sportsmen]]
[[Category:EuroLeague–winning coaches]]
[[Category:FIBA Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Italian basketball coaches]]
[[Category:Italian male water polo players]]
[[Category:Italian men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Olimpia Milano coaches]]
[[Category:Olimpia Milano players]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Italy]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for Italy in water polo]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Trieste]]
[[Category:Water polo players at the 1948 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Water polo players at the 1952 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Water polo players at the 1956 Summer Olympics]]