Russia - Blatt '81 hoops around the world
While Princeton might not have an alumnus playing for the Harlem Globetrotters, the Tigers do have a successful globetrotting coach to call their own. David Blatt '81 has been from Princeton to Israel to Italy to Russia to Turkey — and won just about everywhere. Blatt won Ivy League titles in his junior and senior seasons, and as a senior he was awarded the B.F. Bunn trophy as the Princeton player "who in play, sportsmanship and influence has contributed most to the sport." He played point guard and captained a team that only lost one game in league play and defeated Penn in a one-game playoff to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
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While Princeton might not have an alumnus playing for the Harlem Globetrotters, the Tigers do have a successful globetrotting coach to call their own. David Blatt '81 has been from Princeton to Israel to Italy to Russia to Turkey — and won just about everywhere.
Blatt won Ivy League titles in his junior and senior seasons, and as a senior he was awarded the B.F. Bunn trophy as the Princeton player "who in play, sportsmanship and influence has contributed most to the sport." He played point guard and captained a team that only lost one game in league play and defeated Penn in a one-game playoff to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
After Princeton, Blatt, an Israeli-American, played professional basketball in Israel until 1993. He then served as assistant coach and later head coach for Hapoel Galil Elyon and perennial power Maccabi Tel Aviv. He won Coach of the Year honors twice in Israel, while also winning the 2004 EuroLeague with Maccabi Tel Aviv and serving as an assistant to the Israeli national team.
In 2004 he took the helm for Russian side Dynamo St. Petersburg, where he won the EuroCup in his first year. For the 2005-06 season, he led Italian side Pallacanestro Treviso to the Italian championship, while also signing as head coach for the Russian national team. Beginning this season, he is coach for Istanbul's Efes Pilsen, historically one of Turkey's best teams.
It is as Russian national team coach that Blatt has had his greatest success. In September 2007, Russia won EuroBasket 2007, the European national teams' championship. En route to the title, his Russian team defeated 2006 FIBA World Championship runner-up Greece, basketball power Lithuania and, in the EuroBasket finals, Spain, who was only a year removed from a FIBA World Championship.
Russia's victory guarantees it a spot in the 2008 Summer Olympics, to be held in Beijing. Blatt has committed to coach through that tournament, which will feature basketball powers from Europe and the Americas. Blatt relishes the new challenge of playing against world powers like Argentina, Brazil and the United States, but he readily admits that the overall quality of EuroBasket is actually deeper.*
http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2007/12/07/sports/19628.shtml