Halil Kanacević

Halil Kanacević (born October 23, 1991) is an American-born Montenegrin professional basketball player for Trikala Aries of the Greek Basket League. Previously, he played basketball with Saint Joseph's University, where he helped lead the team to the 2014 Atlantic 10 championship.

Halil Kanacević
Personal information
Born (1991-10-23) October 23, 1991
Staten Island, New York
NationalityAmerican / Montenegrin
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight260 lb (118 kg)
Career information
High schoolCurtis (Staten Island, New York)
College
NBA draft2014 / Undrafted
Playing career2014–present
PositionPower forward / Center
Career history
2014Virtus Roma
2014–2015Union Olimpija
2015–2016CAI Zaragoza
2016Budućnost
2016–2017Bnei Herzliya
2017–2018Trikala Aries
Career highlights and awards

High school career

Kanacević attended and played basketball for Curtis High School. Although Halil excelled, Curtis was a chronically overlooked high school in basketball circles, and had the misfortune of barely missing chances to make long runs in New York high school basketball competition.[1] Due to this, he was often overlooked in the recruiting process, although he received offers from University of Central Florida, Manhattan College, Quinnipiac, and Hofstra. He eventually committed to Hofstra.

College career

Kanacević originally committed to Hofstra, but after a season he decided in May 2010 to move to Saint Joseph's University.[2] He made his March Madness debut in 2014, when St. Joseph's was eliminated by eventual tournament-winners Connecticut in the first round; he scored 12 points in St. Joseph's 81–89 loss.[3] Counting his freshman season at Hofstra, Kanacević finished his collegiate career with 1,163 points, 1,028 rebounds, 407 assists and 202 blocked shots.[4] At St. Joseph's, he was coached by Phil Martelli.[4]

Professional career

Kanacević signed his first professional contract with Virtus Roma in April 2014.[5] After only a few months, he terminated his contract with Roma and moved to KK Union Olimpija on a one-year deal.[6] In July 2015, Kanacević joined the Washington Wizards in the NBA's 2015 Summer League.[7] On August 27, 2015, it was announced that CAI Zaragoza of Spain signed Kanacević.[8] On January 6, 2016, he parted ways with Zaragoza[9] and one week later he signed with Montenegrin KK Budućnost for the rest of the season.[10]

On June 27, 2016, Kanacević signed with Israeli team Bnei Herzliya for the 2016–17 season.[11]

On June 7, 2017, Kanacević signed a one-year contract extension with Bnei Herzliya.[12] However, on November 6, 2017, Kanacević was released by Herzliya after appearing in five games.[13] In December 2017, he signed with Trikala Aries of the Greek Basket League.[14]

International career

In 2011, when Halil traveled back to visit his uncle Rizo Popović, he played for Montenegro's national men's U20 basketball team. He averaged almost 5 points and rebounds per game during the 2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.[15]

The Basketball Tournament

Halil Kanacevic played for Gael Nation in the 2018 edition of The Basketball Tournament. In 2 games, he averaged 1 point, 1.5 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game. Gael Nation reached the second round before falling to Armored Athlete.

Personal life

He was born in the U.S. and raised in South Beach, Staten Island; his family are ethnic Albanians born in Ostros, Bar and emigrated to the U.S. from Montenegro, then part of Yugoslavia, in the late 1980s.

References
  1. Begley, Ian. Daily News: Curtis star Halil Kanacevic wants to put Staten Island on the map. February 24, 2009
  2. Sass, Max. The Hofstra Chronicle: Freshman Halil Kanacevic to transfer to St. Joseph's. May 6, 2010
  3. ESPN: Halil Kanacevic Game-by-Game Stats
  4. "SportsReference.com College Basketball Statistics". January 19, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  5. Archived 2014-12-22 at the Wayback Machine Verlin, Josh. City of Basketball Love: HALIL KANACEVIC SIGNS CONTRACT IN ITALY’S TOP LEAGUE. April 14, 2014
  6. Eurocup Basketball: Union Olimpija sign big man Kanacevic. 13 August 2014
  7. Castillo, Jorge. Washington Post: Wizards announce summer league minicamp roster. July 2, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  8. Eurocup Basketball: CAI Zaragoza lands Kanacevic. August 27, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  9. "Halil Kanacevic, CAI Zaragoza part ways". Sportando.com. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  10. "Halil Kanacevic encuentra acomodo en el KK Buducnost" (in Spanish). ACB.com. 11 January 2016.
  11. "ינגן באולם היובל: חליל קנאסביץ' חתם בבני הרצליה" (in Hebrew). Basket.co.il. June 27, 2016.
  12. "Halil Kanacevic re-signs with Bnei Herzliya". Sportando.com. June 7, 2017.
  13. "אחרי 5 מחזורים: קנסביק שוחרר מהרצליה" (in Hebrew). sport5.co.il. November 6, 2017.
  14. "O Halil Kanacevic στα Τρίκαλα BC Aries". trikalabc.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  15. Halil Kanacević | U20 European Championship Men 2011 | FIBA Europe
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