By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Since last season, Sergio Hernandez had admitted that he wanted to coach in Europe. And that’s good news not only for the coach himself but also for the Basketball Champions League.
While Hernandez is a rookie in Europe, he is an icon in South America.
A two-time FIBA Americas League champion (2008, 2010), a competition rebranded recently as BCL Americas, a six-time Argentine League champion, three-time Argentine Cup winner and four-time Argentinian coach of the year, Hernandez is not a stranger to the global basketball stage, due to his success with the Argentinian national team.
He led the team to the third-place in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, only behind the USA Redeem Team and the Gasol-era Spanish national team at its peak, and last year he faced the Spaniards again in the FIBA World Cup final, leading Argentina to the silver medal.
Hernandez is by far the most decorated coach of the BCL and he has the chance to make a contender out of Zaragoza, a team that competed in the recent BCL Final Eight and hopes that the coaching change will bring a breath of fresh air.
Plus Hernandez is making the BCL instantly relevant if not in South America as a whole, then definitely to Argentina. It’s not a small feat.
The BCL is just four years old and in the fifth season of the competition, the presence of a coach with the accolades and the personality of Hernandez will make things even more interesting and more global than ever.