Luca Banchi

Luca Banchi (born August 1, 1965) is an Italian professional basketball coach. He is currently the head coach of the Latvia men's national basketball team and the Italian club Virtus Bologna, competing in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He was awarded as the best coach of FIBA World Cup 2023.

Italy
Banchi began working as a basketball coach in the youth teams of Basketball Grosseto, after which he was an assistant coach for the Armed Forces Vigna di Valle, and Affrico Firenze. Between 1987 and 1999, he coached the junior teams of Livorno, winning three consecutive youth national titles in the period, from 1995 to 1997.

He was then promoted to head coach of Basket Livorno, in the Italian second-tier level Serie A2. In 1999, he made his debut on the bench of Pall Trieste, where he coached for two years, before returning to Livorno, that had meanwhile been promoted to the Italian top-tier level LBA. He followed that up with two stops in the Italian 2nd Division, in Trapani and Aurora Basket Jesi.

In 2006, he became the assistant coach of Montepaschi Siena, under head coach Simone Pianigiani. As an assistant with Montepaschi, he won six 6 Italian League championships in a row (2007–2012), five Italian Super Cups (2007–2011), and four Italian Cups (2009–2012). In June 2012, he took over the role of head coach of Montepaschi Siena, following the departure of Simone Pianigiani to Fenerbahçe. On February 10, 2013, he won the Italian Cup, after defeating Pallacanestro Varese, by a score of 77–74 in the final game. On June 19, 2013, he also won his first Italian League championship, as a head coach.

On July 1, 2013, he signed a two-year deal to become the head coach of the Italian European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague club, Emporio Armani Milano. In his first season with the team, he won the Italian League championship, repeating the previous success of Carlo Recalcati, as the only head coaches who won consecutive Italian League titles, with different teams.

In the 2017–18 season, he was the head coach of the European-wide second-tier level EuroCup team, Auxulium Torino.

In October 20, 2021 Banchi signed with Victoria Libertas Pesaro to replace Aco Petrović. After a slow start Pesaro few winning runs during the season and qualified for the playoffs.

Virtus Bologna (2023–present)
In September 15, 2023, after Scariolo was fired following controversial statements regarding the new roster and the upcoming season, he became new head coach of Virtus Bologna, and signed a two-year contract. Returning to the Euroleague, after a 5-year break. About a week later, the team won the first title under the new coach, winning the Italian Supercup. 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.

Germany
In 2018, Banchi became the head coach of the German club Brose Bamberg, of the German top-tier level Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), and the EuroLeague.

Greece
On 1 July 2018, Banchi was appointed as the head coach of AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League (GBL) and FIBA Champions League (BCL). On June 17, 2019 his contracted at AEK Athens was terminated.

Russia
On July 5, 2019, he has signed with Lokomotiv Kuban of the VTB United League. On November 15, 2019, his contract with Kuban has been terminated.

France
On November 16, 2022 Banchi signed with SIG Strasbourg and helped the team to raise from the last place to playoffs in French ProA, as well as a playoff spot in Basketball Champions League

National teams
On March 25, 2021, Luca Banchi was announced as the next head coach of the Latvia men's national basketball team. Latvia became one of the two European teams to qualify for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup after starting their journey at the World Cup Pre-Qualifiers.

In the country's World Cup debut in 2023, Banchi led the team to a 5th place finish and received the award for the Best Coach of the tournament. Starting with the Pre-Qualifiers, Latvia had won 21 out of 24 games under coach Banchi.

EuroLeague

 * align="left"|Montepaschi
 * align="left"|2012–13
 * 24 || 12 || 12 || .500 || align="center"|Eliminated in Top 16 stage
 * align="left"|Milano
 * align="left"|2013–14
 * 28 || 16 || 12 || .570 || align="center"|Eliminated in quarterfinals
 * align="left"|Milano
 * align="left"|2014–15
 * 24 || 9 || 15 || .370 || align="center"|Eliminated in Top 16 stage
 * align="left"|Bamberg
 * align="left"|2017–18
 * 6 || 2 || 4 || .330 || align="center"|Eliminated in regular season
 * align="left"|Virtus Bologna
 * align="left"|2023–24
 * 4 || 3 || 1 || .750 || align="center"|Eliminated in regular season
 * -class="sortbottom"
 * align="center" colspan=2|Career||86||42||44||.480||
 * align="left"|Virtus Bologna
 * align="left"|2023–24
 * 4 || 3 || 1 || .750 || align="center"|Eliminated in regular season
 * -class="sortbottom"
 * align="center" colspan=2|Career||86||42||44||.480||