See below some of the coaches that have been involved at previous Future Stars events.
SERGIO SCARIOLO
Sergio Scariolo played a very important role in creation of Future Stars programme. He was not only the first coaching “superstar” lecturing at our clinic, but also was a keynote speaker at two consecutive events in 2007 and 2008. Scariolo (born 1961in Brescia, Italy) in his illustrious career has worked with teams like Scavolini Pesaro (1989-1991) where he won the Italian National Championship. Teamsystem Bologne, (1995-1997), Tau Ceramica (1998-2000) and Real Madrid (2000-2002) winning the Spanish National Championship in 2000.
From 2003-2008 Scariolo Scariolo was the head coach of Unicaja Malaga where he won the Spanish National Championships (2005) before signing for the Russian Super League club Khimki Moscow Region between 2008-2010. By far the biggest success Sergio Scariolo achieved as a Head Coach of Spanish national team. He proceeded over an incredibly successful period when Spain has won Eurobasket 2009, 2011 and 2015. For good measure he also won the bronze medal in Eurobasket 2017.
Sergio Scariolo was equally successful during Olympic games when he led Spain to the silver medals in London 2012 and bronze medals in Rio 2016.
In July 2018, Sergio Scariolo was hired by the Toronto Raptors as an assistant coach.
AITO GARCIA
Aito Garcia was a keynote speaker and a leading clinician at our first event outside the UK when he shared his knowledge with over 200 coaches at the Future Stars 2010 coaching clinic in Krakow, Poland. Aito (born in Madrid, Spain, 1946) is one of the celebrated Spanish Basketball Coaches whose career highlights include winning nine Liga ACB titles (all with FC Barcelona). Aito Garcia has throughout his career managed to win all European titles except Euroleague (although he was runner up on three occasions with FC Barcelona).
Aito Garcia spent 15 seasons at FC Barcelona. In June 2008, Aito won the ULEB Cup with Joventut Badalona then subsequently became the Head Coach of the Spanish National team where he coached them to the Silver medal in the 2008 Olympics in the closely contested Final losing to USA. After thar he coached Málaga (2008–2011), Sevilla (2012-2014) and Gran Canaria (2014-16). Most recently Aito Garcia has led Alba Berlin to the runner up spot in Eurocup in 2019.He also has claimed title of Coach of the Year in the BBL
Garcia can be credited with launching the International careers of players such as Joaquín Costa, Andrés Jiménez, Jordi Villacampa, José A. Montero, Rafael Jofresa, Roberto Dueñas, Juan Carlos Navarro, Pau Gasol, Rudy Fernández and Ricky Rubio.
PEPU HERNANDEZ
Pepu Hernandez was the first World Champion who coached at our clinic, his lectures captivated the audience during the Future Stars 2009 event. Pepu (born 1958, Madrid) spent the majority of his career with CB Estudianties where in 2000 he won the Copa del Rey and in 2004 was ACB runner up and was voted Coach of the Year. Hernandez became the head coach of the Spanish National team between 2006-2008, his greatest success was winning the gold medal in the 2006 FIBA World Championship and the Silver medal in Eurobasket 2007. Pepu Hernandez was the head coach of DKV Joventut in seasons 2009-11 and then he has spent his last year of professional coaching at Estudiantes in season 2011-12. On 30 January 2019, it was announced that Hernández would run in the Spanish Socialist Worker’s Party’s primary election to select the party challenger to become Mayor of Madrid.
NEVEN SPAHIJA
Neven Spahija, one of the most travelled coaches in Europe, collecting trophies in a variety of top of European leagues was a keynote speaker at the Future Stars 2009 event.
Neven (born 1962, Croatia) has amassed titles which include the Croatian National Championship with Cibona Zagreb (2000-2001), Slovenian National Championship with KK Kika Novo Mesto (2002-2003) Lithuanian National League with Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius (2005-2006), Israeli National Championship with Maccabi Tel Aviv (2006-2007), Spanish National Championship with TAU Vitoria (2007-2008) and won the Eurocup with Valencia (2009-2010).
In the summer 2010 Spahija took over as a head coach of Fenerbahce Ulker where he won the 2011 Turkish National Cup. In June 2013, he was named the head coach of Cibona Zagreb.
On 4 August 2014, Spahija was hired by the Atlanta Hawks, to be their assistant coach. On 26 June 2017, Spahija returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv for a second stint, signing a 2+1-year contract. [5] In the 2017–18 season, Spahija led Maccabi to win the 2018 Israeli League Championship. On 18 November 2018, Spahija parted ways with Maccabi
Neven Spahija also led the senior Croatian national team from 2001 to 2005 and he coached them at the EuroBasket 2003 2005.
PIERRE VINCENT
Pierre Vincent who lectured at the first ever Future Stars Coaching Clinic in 2007 has the unique experience of achieving remarkable success with both men’s and women’s teams. In 2000 in Zadar, Croatia he led the French National team, packed with future NBA players like Tony Parker , Boris Diaw , Ronny Turiaf , Mickael Pietrus and Yakhouba Diawara to the Gold medal at the European Junior Championship.
In 2002 he started his 9 years long career with the women’s team CJM Bourges Basket. During these years he led them to 4 French Championships, 5 National Cups and 2 appearances in the Women’s Euroleague Final Four.
In 2007 Pierre Vincent took over as Head Coach of French Women’s National team. Within 2 years he built group of young and exciting players who in 2009 were crowned the European Champions in Latvia. Pierre Vincent also won the silver medal at the European Championships in 2013 and Bronze in 2011. In 2012, at the Olympic Games in London, Pierre Vincent led France to the silver medal.
Pierre Vincent has also spent several seasons coaching men’s teams at Ansvel Villeurbanne where between 2011-15 competed in the Eurocup.
Recently he has returned to coaching women’s basketball and in 2018 won the Italian championship with Famila Schio.
MARCIN GORTAT
Marcin Gortat who during the event was playing with Phoenix Suns NBA, was in the unique position to share his knowledge with coaches at 2010 coaching clinic in Krakow. From a players point of view. Gortat (born 1984, Poland) started his career in LKS Lodz, then played three seasons in Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga Rhien Energie Cologne where he won the championship in 2006. In 2007 Gortat was drafted by Orlando Magic and then assigned to play in the NBA Development league with Anaheim Arsenal. After just a month he was recalled from the D league to play his first NBA game for Orlando Magic. In 2009 the Magic made a run all the way to the NBA finals, making Gortat the first Polish born player to ever appear in the championship series. In December 2010 Gortat was traded to the Phoenix Suns along with Vince Carter and Mickael Pietrus. After 3 successful years in Arizona,
on October 25, 2013, Gortat was traded, along with Shannon Brown, Malcolm Lee, and Kendall Marshall, to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Emeka Okafor and a 2014 protected first-round draft pick.
On February 27, 2014, Gortat recorded a career-high 31 points and 12 rebounds in a 134–129 triple overtime win over the Toronto Raptors. On May 13, he recorded 31 points (his playoff career high) and 16 rebounds to help the Wizards avoid elimination in Game 5 of their second-round series with the Indiana Pacers. He became the first Wizards player with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in a playoff game since Moses Malone in 1987. The Wizards went on to lose Game 6 of the series, falling 4–2 to the Pacers. On July 10, 2014, Gortat re-signed with the Wizards to a reported five-year, $60 million contract.
On December 28, 2015, Gortat was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played December 21–27, earning the honor for the first time in his career. On February 29, 2016, he scored 13 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds in the Wizards’ 116–108 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
On June 26, 2018, Gortat was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Austin Rivers. On February 7, 2019, he was waived by the Clippers and has retired from professional basketball. Marcin Gortat has played in Eurobasket 2009,2013 and 2015. Marcin Gortat is heavily involved in running his sporting charity MG13.
Marcin Gortat not only spoke at our Future Stars Coaching Clinic 2010 in Krakow, but also ran the Future Stars Community Event leading a training session which took place on a specially constructed professional quality outdoor court with seating and roof in a major tourist hotspot in Krakow which not only attracted 150 children and young people but also media attention including National TV coverage.