20 October, 2020
09 May, 2021
Manuel Pena (ZARA), Ignacio Juan Gracia (ZARA), Sergio Lamua Cañon (ZARA), Sergio Hernandez (ZARA), 44 Javier Garcia (ZARA), 32 Tryggvi Hlinason (ZARA), 31 Dylan Ennis (ZARA), 22 Pavle Stosic (ZARA), 12 Robin Benzing (ZARA), 11 Aleix Font (ZARA), 10 Jaime Fernandez (ZARA), 9 Nicolas Brussino (ZARA), 7 Jonathan Barreiro (ZARA), 5 T. J. Bray (ZARA), 0 Rasheed Sulaimon (ZARA), 00 Javier Justiz (ZARA)
17/04/2021
News
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Casimiro handed reins of Zaragoza after Hernandez departure

ZARAGOZA (Spain) - Casademont Zaragoza announced on Saturday that they have placed experienced Spanish tactician Luis Casimiro at the helm of the team, following the resignation of head coach Sergio Hernández, due to personal reasons.

The coach who led Argentinian to the silver medal in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup announced in a public letter addressed to the fans his rather unexpected decision to leave Spain and return home at this point of the season.


In the letter, Hernandez explained that the team deserved a coach who would devote all his energy to navigate them through this crucial juncture of the season, but he could no longer fulfil that role because his mind was preoccupied with what was going on back home.

Hernandez's arrival at Zaragoza in early November was also somewhat surprising, as he agreed to relocate from Argentina and take the reins of a European club for the first time in his career, replacing Diego Ocampo whose stint at the helm only lasted a couple of months.

Casimiro will take charge of the team on Monday and will of course steer Zaragoza in May's BCL Final 8 and also into the final stretch of their Spanish Liga Endesa campaign.


The 61-year-old coach was most recently the boss of Unicaja Malaga, with which he parted ways in January concluding a stint that started in 2018.

That was Casimiro's second spell at the greens of Malaga and during his career in the Spanish top flight, that spans three decades, he has also coached Fuenlabrada, Sevilla, Gran Canaria, Valencia, Valladolid and Alicante, among others.

His biggest domestic success came at the helm of Manresa, which he guided to the conquest of the 1997-98 ACB title, in what is certainly the biggest upset in the modern history of the Spanish league.


"Luis Casimiro's arrival means that we can count with a coach of demonstrable domestic and international experience," said Zaragoza sporting director Pep Cargol.

"He has perfect knowledge of the ACB and ample European competition experience and these attributes are a perfect fit with Casademont Zaragoza's needs at this moment, ahead of the important challenges that we face in the Liga Endesa and in the BCL Final 8."

Zaragoza are facing Nizhny Novgord in the Quarter-Finals of the Final 8 that takes place in the Russian city from May 5-9.