MIES (Switzerland) - Ruben Magnano, the gold medal winning coach of Argentina at the 2004 Olympics, is being inducted into FIBA Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2020.

Without a doubt, Magnano secured his lofty place in international basketball history after leading his homeland to glory at the Athens Games. It was confirmation of his greatness, and the awe-inspiring talent of the players, most of who had reached the Final of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2002 in Indianapolis.

Magnano led Argentina past USA in the Semi-Finals and then to Olympic gold

Magnano, along with coaches Svetislav Pesic (Serbia) and Tara Van Derveer (USA), and legendary players Isabelle Fijalkowski (France), Steve Nash (Canada), Agnes Nemeth (Hungary), Park Shin-ja (Korea), Modestas Paulauskas (Lithuania), Kenichi Sako (Japan), Alexander Volkov (Ukraine) and Jure Zdovc (Slovenia), are to be enshrined.

Athens was indeed the site of his biggest achievement. It started in the very first game, an 83-82 triumph over Serbia and Montenegro, the national team that had many of the Yugoslavian players that had kept Argentina off the top of the podium in Indiana.

The savvy Magnano had a cool head as Argentina beat Greece in the Athens Olympics Quarter-Finals

Argentina reached the elimination round of the Olympics and knocked off heavyweights Greece in the Quarter-Finals (69-64), USA in the Semi-Finals (89-81) and Italy in the Final, (84-69).

Magnano's journey to the promised land of international basketball had begun long before. Born in the city of Villa Maria in Cordoba Province, Magnano became a physical education teacher but also pursued his love of basketball and obtained his coaching license.

He took the reins of the Hindu Club of Cordoba and worked in the lower divisions but was a quick study. By 1990, he was coach of Atenas Cordoba and two years later was celebrating the first of his four Argentina league crowns with the club. He won two more in a second spell with the team, in 1998 and 1999, and then another in 2009 during his third stint in charge.

Also the coach at Luz y Fuerza Posadas, Boca Juniors and Gimnasia in Argentina, he led teams to numerous other trophies.  His experience, success and acumen naturally led Argentina's Basketball Confederation to seek his services, and he began that relationship by coaching the U21 team but quickly graduated to the senior team and had his memorable World Cup and Olympic runs.

Magnano had three successful spells in charge of Atenas de Cordoba

The eyebrow-raising triumph in Athens underlined Magnano's brilliance as a coach, and he took up opportunities to lead Pallacanestro Varese in Italy and Seville in Spain.

From 2010 to 2016, he brought prestige back to Brazil's national team as their coach, guiding them to a near-upset of eventual champions USA at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2010 in Istanbul, before leading the country to a runners-up finish at the FIBA AmeriCup 2011 and successful qualification for the 2012 Olympics in London. Magnano also coached Brazil at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games , and now holds the reins to Uruguay's national team. 

FIBA