Daniel Hackett

Daniel Hackett
Hackett in 2022
No. 23 – Virtus Bologna
Position Point guard / Shooting guard
League LBA
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born December 19, 1987
Forlimpopoli, Italy
Nationality American / Italian
Listed height 196 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Listed weight 97 kg (214 lb)
Career information
High school St. John Bosco
(Bellflower, California)
College USC (2006–2009)
NBA draft 2009: undrafted
Playing career 2009–present
Career history
2009–2010 Treviso
2010–2012 VL Pesaro
2012–2013 Siena
2013–2015 Olimpia Milano
2015–2017 Olympiacos
2017–2018 Brose Bamberg
2018–2022 CSKA Moscow
2022–present Virtus Bologna
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing Italy
European U-20 Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Italy

Daniel Lorenzo Hackett (born December 19, 1987) is an American-Italian professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. Standing at 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in), he can play at both the point guard and shooting guard positions.

Early life

Hackett was born in Forlimpopoli, (Forlì-Cesena), Italy. He is the son of Rudy Hackett, an American professional basketball player, who played in both the ABA and the NBA, and an Italian mother. He grew up in Pesaro, Italy.

High school career

Hackett left Italy to attend high school at St. John Bosco High School of Bellflower, California, in the United States.

College career

Hackett studied at the University of Southern California, where he played college basketball. Starting with his freshman year, he was the USC Trojans' point guard, and with the Trojans he played in the NCAA Tournament three times. On November 17, 2007, Hackett had his first triple double with the Trojans', putting on the score sheet 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.

Professional career

Seasons in Italy, Greece and Germany (2009–2018)

After going undrafted in the 2009 NBA draft, Hacket signed a one-year deal with Benetton Treviso of the Italian LBA. In July 2010, he signed a two-year deal with Scavolini Pesaro.

In 2012, he signed a two-year deal with the Italian team Montepaschi Siena. In his first season with the team, he was named, both Italian League Finals and Italian Cup most valuable player. Also, in his first career EuroLeague season, he averaged 7.2 points, 3 assists, and 2.3 rebounds over 22 games. On December 24, 2013, he signed a three-year deal with EA7 Emporio Armani Milano. On June 19, 2015, he parted ways with Milano.

On July 15, 2015, Hackett signed a two-year contract with the Greek club Olympiacos. With Olympiacos, he won the 2016 Greek League championship.

On July 5, 2017, Hackett signed a two-year contract with German club Brose Bamberg.

CSKA Moscow (2018–2022)

After one season, he parted ways with Brose and signed with the Russian club CSKA Moscow on July 17, 2018. On February 13, 2020, he signed a two-year contract extension with CSKA. With CSKA, Hackett won the club's eighth EuroLeague title in 2019.

Hackett terminated the contract with CSKA in February 2022 due to the country's invasion of Ukraine. Hackett paid CSKA $100,000 to free himself.

Virtus Bologna (2022–present)

Hackett signed with Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A in 2022. After having ousted Lietkabelis, Ulm and Valencia in the first three rounds of the playoffs, on 11 May 2022, Virtus defeated Frutti Extra Bursaspor by 80–67 at the Segafredo Arena, winning its first EuroCup and qualifying for the EuroLeague after 14 years. However, despite having ended the regular season at the first place and having ousted 3–0 both Pesaro and Tortona in the first two rounds of playoffs, Virtus was defeated 4–2 in the national finals by Olimpia Milan.

On 29 September 2022, after having ousted Milano in the semifinals, Virtus won its third Supercup, defeating 72–69 Banco di Sardegna Sassari and achieving a back-to-back, following the 2021 trophy. However, Hackett did not play due to an injury. However, despite good premises Virtus ended the EuroLeague season at the 14th place, thus it did not qualify for the playoffs. Moreover, the team was defeated in the Italian Basketball Cup final by Brescia. In June, after having ousted 3–0 both Brindisi and Tortona, Virtus was defeated 4–3 by Olimpia Milan in the national finals, following a series which was widely regarded among the best in the latest years of Italian basketball.

On 24 September 2023, after having ousted Olimpia Milano in the semifinals, Virtus won its fourth Supercup, and the third in a row, defeating 97–60 Germani Brescia.

International career

Daniel Hackett as a member of the senior Italian national team in 2012.

Hackett played with the Italian junior national teams. With Italy's junior national team, he played at the 2007 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, where he won a bronze medal. He averaged 9.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game at that tournament.

Hackett was then a member of the senior men's Italian national basketball team at the EuroBasket 2011, in Lithuania. He was also a member of the senior Italian national team that took part in EuroBasket 2015, which started on 5 September. He also played at the 2016 Turin FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played  MPG  Minutes per game  FG%  Field goal percentage
 3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game
 PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high     Led the league
Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012–13 Montepaschi/Olimpia Milano EuroLeague 22 22.1 .414 .311 .722 2.3 3.0 1.0 .0 7.2
2013–14 EuroLeague 27 28.7 .390 .346 .733 3.7 4.3 1.2 .0 10.9
2014–15 EuroLeague 24 28.7 .390 .250 .658 3.7 4.6 .8 .0 10.5
2015–16 Olympiacos EuroLeague 24 19.5 .481 .393 .813 2.3 2.3 .8 .1 8.1
2016–17 EuroLeague 11 14.3 .394 .267 .773 1.5 1.6 .5 .0 5.0
2017–18 Brose Bamberg EuroLeague 26 24.0 .497 .369 .808 2.7 3.4 .4 .0 9.6
2018–19 CSKA Moscow EuroLeague 35 17.4 .434 .392 .825 1.8 1.7 .6 .0 6.0
2019–20 EuroLeague 23 20.0 .395 .442 .806 2.6 2.7 1.0 .3 8.3
2020–21 EuroLeague 29 24.0 .446 .453 .848 2.7 2.3 1.0 .0 9.5
2021–22 EuroLeague 17 20.1 .444 .317 .704 1.6 2.1 0.9 .5 6.6
2022–23 Virtus Bologna EuroLeague 32 21.6 .586 .397 .758 2.1 2.9 0.6 .2 6.4