He coached Los Blancos from 1999 to 2002
Real Madrid brings back coach Sergio Scariolo
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A world-class head coach and a legendary club have crossed paths again, as Real Madrid has appointed Sergio Scariolo on a three-year deal.
Scariolo, 64, last coached Virtus Bologna in the 2022-23 season. He replaces Chus Mateo, who led Los Blancos to the EuroLeague title in that campaign.
The Italian play-caller started his coaching career with Scavolini Pesaro, Aurora Desio and Fortitudo Bologna. Scariolo first left his native Italy to coach Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in 1997 before joining Real Madrid in 1999 and leading the team for three seasons.
Scariolo has also coached Unicaja Malaga of Spain, Khimki Moscow Region of Russia, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan of Italy, as well as working for the NBA's Toronto Raptors as assistant coach. Scariolo has led the Spanish national team to unprecedented success.
Success came early in Scariolo's coaching career as he inspired Scavolini to the Italian League title in 1990 and reached the EuroLeague Final Four in 1991. He led Baskonia to the 1999 Spanish Cup and lifted the Spanish League trophy with Real Madrid in 2000. Scariolo went on to lead Unicaja to its first golden age, winning the Spanish Cup in 2005, the Spanish League in 2006 and reaching the EuroLeague Final Four in 2007. Scariolo helped Toronto win the NBA championship in 2019 and led Virtus to the BKT EuroCup crown in 2022.
Simply put, Scariolo is one of the best national team coaches of all-time, helping a generation of players led by Pau Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro, Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio and Rudy Fernandez, among others, dominate FIBA competitions. He guided Spain to four EuroBasket gold medals in 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2022, won the FIBA World Cup in 2019 and also earned two Olympic medals: silver in 2012 and bronze in 2016. He helped Spain get a bronze medal at EuroBasket 2017.