Luca Vitali (born 9 May 1986) is an Italian professional basketball coach and former player, currently serving as the head coach for Dinamo Sassari of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). As a player, he was regarded as very versatile, capable of playing as a point guard, shooting guard, or even small forward, and noted for his ability to defend multiple positions due to his height and wingspan., Eurobasket. Retrieved on 16 March 2015.
Professional career Progressing through the youth ranks of hometown club Virtus Bologna he unusually made his debut for the team in Europe's premier competition, the Euroleague, playing a few minutes in 2003.
He would make his first division debut the next year after moving to Montepaschi Siena, then the strongest side in Italy.
After playing little part in their championship winning season he dropped down a division to join LegaDue club Sutor Montegranaro. This proved to be a fruitful move for both sides, he became a starter, helped promote the club to the first division in 2006 and then on to the playoffs, his good performances even led to a call up to the league All star game.
In 2008, he was recruited by ambitious club Armani Jeans Milano with which he rediscovered the Euroleague, he was instrumental in the progress of Milano to the Top 16, scoring a team European record 32 points against Panionios to finish third in their group.Skountis, Vassilis. "Panionios On Telecoms - AJ Milan / Report."Euroleague, Athens, 14 January 2009. Retrieved on 16 March 2015. However Vitali's time at Armani Jeans ended on a sour note when the club cancelled the last 2 years of his contract, he then joined rivals Lottomatica Roma.
After two years in Rome followed by a brief return to former youth side Virtus Bologna he joined Vanoli Cremona. There he flourished, becoming an undisputed starter for the team and having career best figures in nearly all areas, helping his team escape relegation.Valenti, Stefano. "Basket, the rebirth of Vitali: "At Cremona I'm enjoying myself and winning"."la Repubblica, 18 March 2013. Retrieved on 16 March 2015.
Wanting to play for a stronger side he joined Umana Venezia, where he had a mixed season. This brought him to return to the club where he had the most personal success, Cremona, where he was appointed captain."Basket Serie A, Cremona retake Luca Vitali."Corriere dello Sport, Roma, 18 July 2014. Retrieved on 16 March 2015.
On 18 May 2015, Vitali signed with Herbalife Gran Canaria until the end of the 2014–15 ACB season. In July 2015, he returned to Vanoli Cremona.
On 2 April 2022, he has signed with Pallacanestro Cantù of the Italian Serie A2.
Career statistics
Euroleague Source:"Vitali, Luca - Stats", Euroleague. Retrieved on 15 March 2015.
| style="text-align:left;"| 2002–03 | style="text-align:left;"| Virtus Bologna | 2 || 0 || 3.30 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0 || -1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2003–04 | style="text-align:left;"| Montepaschi Siena | 2 || 0 || 2.15 || 0.0 || 100.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 1,5 || -1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09 | style="text-align:left;"| AJ Milano | 13 || 8 || 24.19 || 44.8 || 44.4 || 91.4 || 1.4 || 2.3 || 0.6 || 0.0 || 10.9 || 8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Lottomatica Roma | 6 || 1 || 19.55 || 33.3 || 29.4 || 100.0 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 0.2 || 0.2 || 5.2 || 1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;"| Lottomatica Roma | 10 || 0 || 19.08 || 38.9 || 40.0 || 63.6 || 1.8 || 1.6 || 0.9 || 0 || 6 || 4.7 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 33 || 9 || 13.65 || 23.4 || 42.32 || 51.0 || 0.94 || 0.98 || 0.34 || 0.04 || 4.72 || 2.34
International career After a period with the under-age Italian team, Vitali joined the senior national team from 2007.
He was regularly called up from there on but remained a fringe player, part of Italy's EuroBasket 2013 squad, he played sparingly. He started commanding more game time in EuroBasket 2015 qualification that saw Italy qualify for the tournament."Luca Vitali", Federazione Italiana Pallacanestro. Retrieved on 15 March 2015. He was called up to the preliminary squad for EuroBasket 2015, but was injured during the tournament preparation and had to leave the team before the main tournament.
Personal life He comes from a basketball family as his brother is fellow player Michele Vitali with whom he played one season for Virtus Bologna and presently for the Italian national basketball team, their parents were also players."Luca Vitali - Profilo", Legabasket. Retrieved on 16 March 2015.
References