It had been understood for days, but now it’s official: Daniel Hackett is a new player of the Virtus Segafredo Bologna. The former Olimpia Milano playmaker had recently terminated his contract with CSKA Moscow and the Ronci-Baraldi duo was very good at closing the blow in a few days, bringing one of the best Italian basketball players back to Italy in recent years.
Virtus, the press release on Hackett
«Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna SpA announces that it has reached an agreement until 30 June 2024 with Daniel Lorenzo Hackett. The statements of the CEO of Virtus Segafredo Bologna, Luca Baraldi: “I thank our President Massimo Zanetti for the umpteenth demonstration of availability and generosity, which allowed our Company to acquire the sports performances of Daniel Hackett. This latest arrival, after a complex and difficult negotiation conducted once again with great patience and skillful mastery by our DG Paolo Ronci, enriches the large list of players who represent the best expression of Italian basketball both nationally and internationally. I’m sure Daniel can add that extra point of character needed by a team that has been built to achieve important sporting goals. ” Play-guard of 196cm, Hackett was born in Forlimpopoli on December 19, 1987. He grew up in the youth academies of Pesaro, the city where he lived for a long time before flying across the ocean, at the Bellflower St. John Bosco High School. Then the University of Southern California where he plays with the Trojans shirt ».
«In 2009 his first season as a professional, after returning to Italy, with the Benetton Treviso shirt. In the following season he moved to Pesaro, where he remained for two consecutive championships. In July 2012 he signed with Siena with whom he won the Scudetto and received the MVP award of the finals; in the same year he was also MVP of the Italian Cup and the Italian Super Cup won by the Tuscan team. In the 2013/2014 season, after the first months in Siena, he moved to Olimpia Milan where he won another championship. In the summer of 2015 he left Italy to join Olympiacos where he won a championship with the red and white of Piraeus. After two seasons in the Greek team he moved to Bamberg, before moving to CSKA Moscow: with the Russian team he reached the championship victory twice, with the MVP award in the 2020-2021 season, once the Russian Super Cup and a Euroleague in the final with Efes in the 2018-2019 season. Daniel Hackett also has 114 appearances for the Italian national team. Virtus Segafredo Bologna – closes the note – officially welcomes Daniel Hackett to the great Juventus family ».
