In the only season in which a team from Trapani played in Serie A basketball, 32 years ago, there was also the American Wendell Alexis. The news of the Shark’s promotion to the top division has also reached the States, and Salvo Cataldo, for livesicilia.it, has made a nice interview with the American from Brooklyn who in his career, after a Korac Cup won with Real Madrid, played in Italy at Livorno (scudetto final against Olimpia Milano) and Mens Sana Siena before arriving in Sicily. An excerpt of his words, while the full interview can be read here.
That Trapani and Wendell Alexis remained in the minds and hearts of the people of Trapani. “Mannella, Cassì, Tosi, Piazza, Zucchi, Hurt, Martin and Castellazzi were the heart of that Trapani team that achieved promotion to A1. When I arrived I knew how determined and tenacious they were, as was the promotion coach, Gianfranco Benvenuti. I never played in a team coached by him but I knew how ‘tough’ he was, just like my coach from Siena days Dado Lombardi. That year in A1 was tough: we understood that getting to the top league is difficult but staying there is even more difficult. It was the year of the Messaggero squadron, with Mahorn and Radja, but we managed to beat them both on the first leg and on the second leg, demonstrating that a team is worth more than the money spent”.
Trapani Shark: what advice do you feel like giving to President Antonini who is investing so much? “Think long term. We need to work to make a project sustainable over time and not in the short term. We need to involve the club’s most representative players and also focus on coaches who enhance young people, in whom we need to invest. It is also necessary to involve people linked to basketball, obtaining the support of the institutions and not only of the entrepreneurial fabric but of the entire Trapani community. Trapani must become ‘the team of Sicily’ and must be able to export the culture of that territory. When people think of Trapani Basket, they will have to keep three things in mind: talent, skill and tenacity.”
