Antonini targets three Serie A stars in paradise: Trapani basket on the rise

“Let me also spend a word rightly for the coach who was here before me, Daniele Parente, because it is right to mention him for the work he has done.” These are the words of coach Andrea Diana, coach of Trapani Shark, immediately after securing the historic promotion to Serie A, 32 years after Trapani’s first time in the top flight. These statements are not obvious but heartfelt. The Coppa Italia in March, in fact, was a watershed competition for the granata team’s season. The first with the end of the regular season and with seventeen consecutive victories, achieved with Parente at the helm. The second after the change of coaching, with the team entrusted to coach Diana: “I would say that in the end we always start over. Just have the patience to wait for something beautiful. This was the perfect challenge for me. Honor to Fortitudo Bologna, we have realized a dream and I am proud of these guys.”

The celebration from Bologna to Trapani, with embraces at 4 in the morning first at Birgi airport and then later at Pala Shark. “The dream built with many sacrifices – says president Valerio Antonini – is reality. An incredible story was written in Bologna. I saw the players give everything in an exciting way.” The granata number 1 then relaunches after the championship victory: “We must enjoy a season that must remain in the city’s history. We have rekindled a passion that had been dormant for too long. Now is the time to enjoy it and then plan a next season as protagonists in Serie A. It’s been four years that Milan and Bologna have been competing and I believe it is time for a team from the South to win the tricolor, so a team will be built to win the league.”

Trapani Shark, therefore, has clear ideas for its future, aiming for a roster that will see several confirmations from the just-concluded season, with the addition of prominent players, also in the Italian National team’s circle. The first two confirmations for next season will be those of the two Americans, who arrived in Sicily in the summer and were protagonists with plays that entered the minds of Trapani fans: Jd Notae and Chris Horton will still be in the Trapani roster. Also essential is the choice of the granata club to keep playmaker Stefano Gentile, absent in game 4 due to a problem with his right ankle, and power forward Amar Alibegovic, both of whom arrived during the season, providing new tactical solutions to coach Diana, a candidate to remain on the Trapani Shark bench.

However, the confirmations do not end there. The idea of the Trapani entourage is to also give confidence to captain Marco Mollura, who will play as a Trapanese in Serie A for his hometown team. This leads to Rei Pullazi, who returned to Trapani in the summer, immediately embracing the Shark project. The same goes for Riccardo Rossato and Paul Biligha, who are ready to take on the ambitions of Trapani Shark, coming respectively from excellent seasons with Scafati and Trento. The ambitions of Trapani Shark are many, and the sought-after move is the one that bears the name of Stefano Tonut, a guard of the National team and nearing the end of his contract with Olimpia Milano, with whom he is currently playing in another league final against Virtus Bologna. A potential signing that could shift the balance in Serie A. The roster will then be completed by three American players: a point guard, a small forward, and a center, whose profiles are still to be determined. In Trapani, the dream continues.