Former Villanova star Ryan Arcidiacono will play basketball in Italy
The point guard on the 2016 national-title team is headed to JuveCaserta Basket, a Campania-based team in Italy's top league.
/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-pmn.s3.amazonaws.com/public/IT7KTKPK7RB5BDY6FVIAJMP4LQ.jpg)
After a year in the NBA's G League, former Villanova basketball star Ryan Arcidiacono has signed a professional contract to play in Italy.
The point guard on the Wildcats' 2016 national-championship team is headed to JuveCaserta Basket, a Campania-based team in Italy's top league. The team is also known as Pasta Reggia Caserta, beacuse Pasta Reggia is its big sponsor.
JuveCaserta president Raffaele Iavazzi said that it has been his "personal dream" to bring Arcidiacono to the team, and that he tried to do it last year but did not succeed. Arcidiacono instead joined the Austin Spurs, the minor-league affiliate of the San Antonio Spurs, after playing for San Antonio in the 2016 NBA summer league.
His teammates in Italy will include former UMass big man Raphiael Putney and NBA veteran Linton Johnson.
Arcidiacono won't be the first player with ties to Philadelphia who has suited up for JuveCaserta. A former 76er, the late Charles Shackleford, spent a season there before coming here in 1991.
The most famous player in JuveCaserta history is Oscar Schmidt, the Naismith Hall of Famer from Brazil who is the all-time leading scorer in Olympic basketball history. He spent eight seasons with the club, from 1982 to 1990.