Antonio Díaz-Miguel Sanz (July 6, 1933 – February 21, 2000) was a Spanish professional basketball player and coach. He studied in Madrid, and graduated from the University of Bilbao.
A pioneer in the worldwide promotion of basketball, he won several coaching awards, and was a frequent basketball lecturer around the world. He was enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame, as a coach, on September 29, 1997. In 2007, he was enshrined into the FIBA Hall of Fame.
Basketball playing career
Club career
Although initially a football player in his youth, Díaz-Miguel's physical characteristics, including a 1.86 m (6'1 1 1⁄4")[1] barefoot height, and also his determination, contributed to his start in basketball, as a player, at the Instituto Ramiro de Maeztu Secondary School of Madrid, where the Estudiantes ("students") club was founded in 1950, with pupils and teachers of the school. He was a player of Estudiantes Club of Madrid in 1950–52, and 1953–1958, and later also played with Real Madrid (1958–1961), and Águilas Bilbao (1961–1963). He won the top-tier level Spanish Clubs League championship twice, in 1960 and 1961, with Real Madrid.
Immediately after his retirement from his basketball playing career, Díaz-Miguel started coaching Águilas Bilbao. Following that, he later provisionally, and nearly by chance, became the head coach of the senior Spain National Team, where he managed to develop longstanding success for the team, and the sport of basketball in Spain. He was the head coach of the senior Spain national basketball team, for as long as 27 years (1965–1992).[2]
