Antonio Díaz-Miguel facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Antonio Díaz-Miguel

Antonio Díaz-Miguel
Personal information
Born	(1933-07-06)July 6, 1933 Alcázar de San Juan, Ciudad Real, Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Died	February 21, 2000(2000-02-21) (aged 66) Madrid, Spain
Listed height	6 ft 1.25 in (1.86 m)
Career information
College	University of Bilbao
Pro career	1950–1963
Coaching career	1963–1997
Career history
As player:
1950–1952	Estudiantes Madrid
1952–1953	Transportes Cave
1953–1958	Estudiantes Madrid
1958–1961	Real Madrid
1961–1966	Águilas Bilbao
As coach:
1963–1965	Club Águilas Bilbao
1965–1992	Spain
1993	Pallacanestro Cantú
1996–1997	Pool Getafe
Career highlights and awards
As player: 2× Spanish League champion (1960, 1961) 2× Spanish Cup winner (1960, 1961) As head coach: 5× FIBA European Selection (1977, 1978, 1981 (2×), 1982) Royal Order of Sports Merit Grand Cross (2000) Royal Order of Sports Merit Gold Medal (1994) 2× AEEB Spanish Coach of the Year (1981, 1983) Spanish Women's League champion (1997) Spanish Women's Cup winner (1997)
Medals Representing  Spain Men's Basketball Head Coach Olympic Games Silver 1984 Los Angeles EuroBasket Silver 1973 Spain Silver 1983 France Bronze 1991 Italy

Antonio Díaz-Miguel Sanz (born July 6, 1933 – died February 21, 2000) was a famous Spanish basketball player and coach. He studied in Madrid and went to the University of Bilbao.

Antonio helped make basketball popular all over the world. He won many coaching awards. He also gave talks about basketball in many countries. In 1997, he was added to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach. Then, in 2007, he joined the FIBA Hall of Fame.

Playing Basketball

Club Teams

When he was young, Antonio first played football. But because he was tall (about 1.86 meters or 6 feet 1 inch) and determined, he started playing basketball. He began at the Instituto Ramiro de Maeztu Secondary School in Madrid. This is where the Estudiantes club was started in 1950.

Antonio played for the Estudiantes club from 1950 to 1952 and again from 1953 to 1958. Later, he played for Real Madrid from 1958 to 1961. He also played for Águilas Bilbao from 1961 to 1963. With Real Madrid, he won the top Spanish basketball league championship twice, in 1960 and 1961.

Playing for Spain

Antonio Díaz-Miguel played 27 games for the senior Spain national basketball team. He won a gold medal at the 1955 Mediterranean Games. He also won a silver medal at the 1959 Mediterranean Games.

Coaching Basketball

Starting as a Coach

Right after he stopped playing, Antonio Díaz-Miguel started coaching Águilas Bilbao. Soon after, he became the head coach of the senior Spain national basketball team. He led the team to great success for many years. He coached the Spanish national team for a very long time, from 1965 to 1992, which is 27 years!

Achievements as Coach

Antonio coached the Spain National Team in 431 games. He led them to six Summer Olympic Games. The most famous was winning a silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. This was the best result for the Spanish team until 2008.

His teams also played in 13 EuroBasket tournaments and four FIBA World Cups. In the EuroBasket, his team won two silver medals (EuroBasket 1973, EuroBasket 1983) and one bronze medal (EuroBasket 1991). He also won a silver medal at the 1987 Mediterranean Games.

Antonio was named "Spanish Coach of the Year" in 1981 and 1983. He was also chosen five times to coach the FIBA European Selection teams.

See also

In Spanish: Antonio Díaz-Miguel para niños