With a name like this he is destined to make history, in the hope that he will end up wearing the blue jersey for real. Paolo Napoleon James Banchero is one of the stars, perhaps the brightest, who will take the field tomorrow in the NCAA finals, the American university basketball tournament that will see the four teams still in the running in New Orleans: Duke, North Carolina, Villanova and Kansas. It is one of the most followed sporting events in the US, but this year it will also reach Italy, given that for the first time a boy with an Italian name, surname and passport arrives as the absolute protagonist.
Paolo Banchero is 19 years old and is a freshman from Duke University, coached by Mike Krzyzewski, the 75-year-old guru who arrived at the Final Four in the last season of his career. “He is a special player, easy to train”, the blessing of coach K, who between Duke and team USA has coached a slew of champions, including Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Yet, he says that like Banchero he has seen few: «I told him that he has to talk more, because he always thinks intelligent things and saying them will help him become a better leader. He will continue to improve, but he is a star and there is no doubt about that. Because he is comfortable with the ball in his hand, and it is not common with his size (208 cm by 113 kg, ed). And then he is unique and you can already see that he has the right mind. He had excellent parents, he was raised really well ».
Paolo is the son of Rhonda Smith, an American basketball player, and Mario Banchero, a former football player at the University of Washington in Seattle, the city where the new basketball phenomenon was born and raised which, thanks to his father’s Ligurian origins, will be able to play in the national team. In 2020, Paolo received Italian citizenship, confirming his willingness to play for his great-grandfather’s country, born in the province of Genoa. Unfortunately, he has not yet managed to make his debut in the blue jersey. He would have done it last year at the Pre-Olympic Tournament, but he had had to give up due to academic commitments. Will he do it at the September European Championship which starts in Milan for Italy? He is not sure at all. What is certain, however, is that he can be the star of Italian basketball for the next decade.
Given the enormous talent he has, in the meantime he has already decided to immediately move to the NBA. Where he will get there from first, second or, badly, third overall pick in the 2022 draft. The NBA already loves him for his defensive talent, for athleticism and for the ability to play well in all roles, in the sense who sees the game as a point guard, shoots like a guard and dominates as a center under the basket. He proved it this season where he averaged 17 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists per game. The peak reached it with 22 points scored on March 25 against Texas Tech, which allowed Duke to enter the finals. He now he only touches the last step before the big leap.
