Aíto García Reneses

Aíto García Reneses

Aíto, with Unicaja Málaga, in 2009.
ALBA Berlin
Position	Head coach
League	Basketball Bundesliga Euroleague
Personal information
Born	(1946-12-20) December 20, 1946 Madrid, Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Listed height	6 ft 1.25 in (1.86 m)
Listed weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
Playing career	1963–1973
Position	Point guard
Coaching career	1998–present
Career history
As player:
1963–1968	Estudiantes
1968–1973	FC Barcelona
As coach:
1973–1983	Círculo Católico / Cotonificio
1983–1985	Joventut Badalona
1985–1990	FC Barcelona
1992–1997	FC Barcelona
1998–2001	FC Barcelona
2003–2008	Joventut Badalona
2008	Spain
2008–2011	Unicaja
2012–2014	Sevilla
2014–2016	Gran Canaria
2017–present	Alba Berlin
Career highlights and awards
As head coach: German League champion (2020) German Cup winner (2020) BBL Coach of the Year (2018) EuroCup champion (2008) 2× EuroCup Coach of the Year (2015, 2019) FIBA EuroChallenge champion (2006) 9× Spanish League champion (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001) 5× Spanish Cup winner (1987, 1988, 1994, 2001, 2008) 4× AEEB Spanish Coach of the Year (1976, 1990, 2006, 2008) FIBA Saporta Cup champion (1986) 2× FIBA Korać Cup champion (1987, 1999) FIBA European Selection (1990)
Medals Representing Spain Men's basketball Head coach Summer Olympics 2008 Beijing European Under-16 Championship 1979 Syria Under-16 Team

Alejandro 'Aíto' García Reneses (born 20 December 1946 in Madrid, Spain), usually known as just Aíto, is a Spanish professional basketball coach and former player. He is head coach of the German Bundesliga team Alba Berlin since summer 2017.

As a head coach, as well as leading Spain's national team to Olympic silver, he has won nine Spanish Liga ACB titles, all of them with FC Barcelona. He has won four European competitions - the FIBA Korać Cup (twice) and FIBA Saporta Cup with FC Barcelona, and the FIBA EuroChallenge and EuroCup with Joventut Badalona. He was also a EuroLeague runner-up on three occasions with FC Barcelona: in 1989–90, 1995–96, and 1996–97. Garcia Reneses is the first person to win the EuroCup Coach of the Year award twice: with Gran Canaria in 2015 and with Alba Berlin in 2019.

He has trained and fostered later NBA players such as Pau Gasol, Rudy Fernandez, Juan Carlos Navarro, Ricky Rubio and Kristaps Porzingis.

Playing career

During his playing career, he played at the point guard position. He played with Estudiantes (1963–1968), and FC Barcelona (1968–1973). While with Barcelona, he was the team's captain.

During his time in Barcelona as a player, he studied physics and telecommunications. He designed later electronic basketball scoreboards, which have been installed in more than thirty pavilions throughout Spain.

Coaching career

Clubs

García Reneses has spent most of his coaching career in Barcelona: He spent 15 seasons with FC Barcelona (13 as head coach, and two as general manager), and also in three basketball teams from Badalona: Círculo Católico, Cotonificio, and especially Joventut, where he coached for two different periods, 1983–1985, and from July 2003, to May 2008. He also coached Baloncesto Unicaja Málaga for 3 seasons (2008–2011), led CDB Sevilla between 2012 and 2014 and trained CB Gran Canaria from 2014 to 2016.

In Summer 2017, at the age of 70, switched García Reneses to a foreign club for the first time in his life: He became head coach at the German Bundesliga club Alba Berlin. In his first season in Berlin, he was awarded "Coach of the Year" of the Bundesliga and had already a big influence in the german basketball: Under García Reneses, several talented Berliners such as Tim Schneider and Bennet Hundt made the leap to the Bundesliga team. In 2018 and 2019 the Berliners became German runners-up under his leadership. In the 2018-19 season, the Spaniard also led the team to the final of the European club competition Eurocup and he won the title "EuroCup Coach of the Year". Under his guidance, Berlin captured the German championship title as well as the German Cup in the 2019-20 campaign.

Spanish senior national team

In June 2008, he became the head coach of the Spanish national team, replacing Pepu Hernández. In the 2008 Summer Olympics, he coached the team to a silver medal, in the closely contested gold medal game, losing to the USA after being down by just 2 points with a few minutes left in the game.

Teams coached

• Círculo Católico Badalona: 1973–1976.
• Cotonificio Badalona: 1976–1983.
• Joventut Badalona: 1983–1985.
• FC Barcelona:
  • 1985–1990: head coach.
  • 1990–1992: general manager
  • 1992–1993: head coach, after 3 games he swapped his place with Quim Costa, so he became the 2nd coach.
  • 1993–1997: head coach.
  • 1998–2001: head coach.
• Joventut Badalona: 2003–2008.
• Baloncesto Málaga: 2008–2011.
• Cajasol: 2012–2014.
• Gran Canaria: 2014–2016.
• Alba Berlin: since 2017.
• Spanish national teams:
  • 1979 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in Damascus:  Bronze
  • 2008 Summer Olympic Games:  Silver

Titles

Clubs

• National competitions:

• 9× Liga ACB (Spanish League) champion with FC Barcelona: 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2001.
• 5× Copa del Rey (Spanish King's Cup) winner, 4 with FC Barcelona: 1987, 1988, 1994, 2001 and 1 with Joventut Badalona: 2008.
• Prince of Asturias Cup winner, with FC Barcelona: 1988.
• 1x German champion with Alba Berlin: 2020
• 1x German Cup champion with Alba Berlin: 2020

• International competitions:

• FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup (Saporta Cup) champion, with FC Barcelona: 1986.
• 2× FIBA Korać Cup champion, with FC Barcelona: 1987 and 1999.
• FIBA EuroCup (EuroChallenge) champion with Joventut Badalona: 2005–06
• ULEB Cup (EuroCup) champion with Joventut Badalona: 2007–08

External links

• ACB Coach Profile (in Spanish)