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Mike DiNunno

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Mike DiNunno
Personal information
Born (1990-01-29) January 29, 1990 (age 34)
Maywood, Illinois
NationalityAmerican / Italian
Listed height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight192 lb (87 kg)
Career information
High schoolLake Park
(Roselle, Illinois)
Von Steuben
(Chicago, Illinois)
College
NBA draft2013: undrafted
Playing career2013–2022
PositionPoint guard
Career history
2013–2014Beroe
2014Nord Barese
2014–2015Cheshire Phoenix
2015–2016Iraklis Thessaloniki
2017Cheshire Phoenix
2017–2018Beroe
2019KR
2019Básquet Coruña
2022Virtus Fondi
Career highlights and awards
  • Icelandic champion (2019)
  • Bulgarian Supercup Winner (2017)
  • First-team All-OVC (2013)
  • OVC All-Newcomer Team (2012)
  • MAC All-Freshman team (2009)

Michele Christopher Di Nunno (born January 29, 1990) is an American-Italian former basketball player, playing the point guard position. Born in Maywood, Illinois, he played high school basketball at Lake Park and Von Steuben. Initially, he committed to Northern Illinois to play college basketball, where he received MAC All-Freshman team honors. After two seasons, he transferred to Eastern Kentucky. DiNunno was named in the OVC All-Newcomer team in his junior season and first team all-OVC in his senior season at Eastern Kentucky. Following his graduation, he has played professionally in several leagues in Europe. In 2019 he won the Icelandic championship as a member of KR.

High school career

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DiNunno started his high school career at Lake Park.[1] In his sophomore season, he posted 17 points per game.[1] He then went on to transfer to Von Steuben to play under coach Vince Carter.[1] In his debut in the CPL he posted 19 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists to help his team win against Morgan Park.[2] In his junior season, Dinunno averaged 18 points, five assists and four rebounds per game.[3] He improved his numbers in his senior season averaging 22 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game, to lead his school to a 24–6 record.[4] Von Steuben won sectional titles in his junior and senior season and DiNunno received all-state honorable mentions in both seasons.[4] DiNunno was a two-star recruit according to Rivals.com and a three star recruit according to 247Sports.com, ranked 83rd in the point guard position.[5][6]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Mike DiNunno
PG 		Maywood, ILL Von Steuben 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Jul 23, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:2/5 stars   247Sports:3/5 stars    ESPN grade: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:   247Sports: 387, 83 (PG)
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Northern Illinois 2008 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2015-04-03.
  • "2008 Northern Illinois Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved 2015-04-03.
  • "2008 Player Commitments – Northern Illinois". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2015-04-03.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved 2015-04-03.
  • "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2015-04-03.

College career

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DiNunno was initially offered a scholarship to play for Northern Illinois by Rob Judson, but committed to the school in 2007 as the offer was confirmed by new head coach Ricardo Patton.[7] Three games into his freshman season, DiNunno had a Northern Illinois career-high in scoring with 27 points, to help the Huskies overcome Indiana State 86–79.[4][8] Against Southeast Missouri State he posted a career-high 6 steals to combine with 16 points and 5 assists.[4][9] By leading all MAC freshmen in scoring, assists, free throw percentage, three-pointers made and minutes played, he was named in the conference's all-freshman team.[4][10][11] Before the start of his sophomore season, three of DiNunno's grandparents died within a month and a half; later on he admitted it was a difficult task to balance that with performing at 19 years of age.[12][13] Versus Western Michigan, DiNunno recorded his first career double-double by posting a season-high 21 points and a career-best 10 assists, to help his team win its fourth game in a row.[4][14] Following the end of his sophomore season DiNunno announced that he would not return to Northern Illinois for his junior season.[15]

DiNunno initially planned to transfer to, NCAA Division II college, Quincy.[13] After Luke Strege left Quincy to join Eastern Kentucky as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, DiNunno chose to transfer to Eastern Kentucky to continue playing Division I basketball.[13] His transfer was made official in May 2010 with DiNunno having to sit out for the 2010–11 season due to NCAA transfer rules.[16] He had a career-high 33 points performance against Tennessee State as his team lost 91–85 in double overtime.[17] For his performances in his first season at Eastern Kentucky he was named in OVC All-Newcomer Team, an honor given to first year players in the league, freshmen and transfers.[18] In his senior season, DiNunno made a lay-up with 2.3 seconds left in the game against Western Carolina to help his team win and reach a 7–0 record.[19] The record was extended to 9–0, the school's best start in 66 years.[20] Starting all 34 games he played in the season, he achieved a season-high 24 points performance four times; three of them were in consecutive games in January versus Belmont, Jacksonville State and Tennessee State, the fourth being against Tennessee State in March.[21] By leading Eastern Kentucky in scoring, assists and steals and guiding the team to a school record in victories, DiNunno was named first team all-OVC in 2013.[22][23]

College statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Source:[4][24]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2008–09 Northern Illinois 30 29 29.5 .352 .339 .732 2.2 2.6 1.5 .0 11.9
2009–10 Northern Illinois 30 21 23.7 .312 .290 .629 1.6 3.0 1.0 .0 7.0
Did not play in the 2010–11 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
2011–12 Eastern Kentucky 32 30 28.6 .400 .277 .811 1.9 2.8 1.5 .0 9.5
2012–13 Eastern Kentucky 34 34 35.3 .422 .389 .853 2.1 4.3 1.9 .0 14.8
Career 126 114 29.4 .377 .345 .779 1.9 3.2 1.5 .0 11.0

Professional career

[edit]

Following his graduation from college, DiNunno signed his first professional contract in Bulgaria with Beroe in November 2013.[25][26] He scored a season-high 41 points against Levski Sofia.[27][28] With Beroe he started 5 of his 6 games with the team averaging 23.7 points, 3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game, in 32.3 minutes playing times.[29] After leaving Beroe in January, he joined Nord Barese in Italy and scored 16 points in 21 minutes in his debut in January 2014.[30] He had a season-high 20 points performance against Ferrara.[31][32] DiNunno appeared in 10 games for Nord Barese, averaging 14.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4 assists per game.[32]

In October 2014, DiNunno signed for British Basketball League team Cheshire Phoenix.[33] He had 36 points, 4 assists and 4 steals against the Manchester Giants, to achieve season-highs in scoring and steals.[34][35] He dished out a season-high 10 assists to help his team get past the Glasgow Rocks.[35][36] He was waived by the club in April due to a back injury that kept him out for almost a month.[37][38] His team, that started the season 1–4, went 17–3 when DiNunno played.[38] He played in 21 games in the BBL, averaging 15.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game.[39] In August 2015 DiNunno signed an annual contract with Greek A2 team Iraklis Thessaloniki.[40][41] He scored a game-high 26 points in his debut for Iraklis, helping his team get a narrow 82–81 away win against Ethnikos Piraeus for the first round of the Greek Cup.[42] He scored a season-high 31 points against Psychiko, shooting 6-of-10 three-pointers.[43][44] On 30 January 2016 his contract with the team was terminated by mutual consent.[45] Totally he appeared in 11 league games for Iraklis averaging 16.2 points, 1.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.9 steals per game.[46]

In February 2017 DiNunno returned to Cheshire Phoenix to play under head coach Robbie Peers.[47] On 2 April 2017 he led the Phoenix to victory over the London Lions scoring 40 points.

DiNunno started the 2017–2018 season with BC Beroe, helping them win the Bulgarian Supercup on 17 September 2017.[48] In 9 games in the Bulgarian National Basketball League, he averaged 11.2 points and 5.4 assists.

In January 2019, DiNunno signed with reigning Úrvalsdeild karla champions KR.[49] After a rough start, which included a scoreless outing against Tindastóll, he ended the season on a high note, averaging 23.0 points in the last four regular season games. In the playoffs he averaged 16.7 points in KR's first round sweep of Keflavík.[50] On 4 May 2019 he won the Icelandic championship after KR beat ÍR in the Úrvalsdeild finals 3–2, scoring a game high 27 points in the fifth and deciding game.[51]

In July 2019, DiNunno signed with LEB Oro club Básquet Coruña.[52]

In end of January 2020, DiNunno returned to KR, signing with the team for the rest of the season.[53] However, the rest of the Úrvalsdeild season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic in Iceland before he played a game. On 3 September 2020, KR announced that DiNunno would not return to the team for the upcoming season.[54]

In 2022, DiNunno joined AD Virtus Basket Fondi in the Italian Serie C Gold Basket where he averaged 32.9 points in 7 games.[55]

Personal

[edit]

DiNunno was born on January 29, 1990, in Maywood, Illinois, to Kathleen and Mike DiNunno.[4] He has five siblings, Nadia, Kalie, Nikalia, Niko and Mariono.[4] Mike DiNunno was given an Italian passport in February 2013, allowing him dual citizenship to play as an Italian.[25][30]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Henricksen, Joe (August 23, 2012). "The significant impact of transfers in prep hoops". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
  2. ^ O'Brien, Michael & McGavin, Patrick Z. (December 3, 2006). "Von Steuben shines in DiNunno's debut". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  3. ^ "NIU Men's Hoops Inks Three To National Letters Of Intent". Northern Illinois University Athletics. November 15, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Mike DiNunno Bio". Northern Illinois University Athletics. Archived from the original on June 30, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
  5. ^ "Mike DiNunno". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  6. ^ "247Sports.com". Mike DiNunno, Northern Illinois, Point guard. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  7. ^ Burnes, Jerry (December 3, 2009). "Time for Northern Illinois Huskies To Fire Basketball Coach Ricardo Patton". bleacher report. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  8. ^ "Anderson, DiNunno Each Score 27 Points In Home-Opening Win". Northern Illinois University Athletics. November 18, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
  9. ^ Breese, Mike (February 22, 2009). "Northern Illinois dominates the SE Missouri Redhawks 97-73". SB★NATION. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
  10. ^ "All-MAC teams announced". Daily Chronicle (Illinois). March 9, 2009. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  11. ^ "2014 MAC Record Book" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  12. ^ Sahly, John (November 12, 2009). "Pregame Rituals: Mike DiNunno - 'Feel my pain'". HuskieWire.com. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  13. ^ a b c Gleeson, Scott M (January 14, 2013). "Mid-Major Player Diary: DiNunno pilots Eastern Kentucky's hot start". USA TODAY. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
  14. ^ Sahly, John (January 13, 2010). "Off to a fast start". Daily Chronicle (Illinois). Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  15. ^ "DiNunno and Fakuade will not return next season". Huskie Wire. April 12, 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  16. ^ "Men's Basketball Adds Two Transfers to 2010-11 Roster". Eastern Kentucky University Athletics. May 14, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  17. ^ Alves, Ryan (February 1, 2012). "Colonels suffer setbacks in two conference games". The Eastern Progress. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  18. ^ "Murray State's Canaan, Prohm, Long and UT Martin's Taylor Earn Top 2012 OVC Men's Basketball Honors". Ohio Valley Conference. February 28, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  19. ^ "Mike DiNunno's Lay-Up With 2.3 Seconds Left Lifts EKU To 7-0". Eastern Kentucky University Athletics. December 1, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
  20. ^ Narang, Bob (February 13, 2013). "Catching up with Mike DiNunno at Eastern Kentucky". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
  21. ^ "DiNunno, Meke 2012-13 Eastern Kentucky Basketball Individual Game-by-Game". Eastern Kentucky University Athletics. March 23, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
  22. ^ "DiNunno Named First Team All-OVC, Cosey & Walden Earn All-Newcomer Honors". Eastern Kentucky University Athletics. March 5, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  23. ^ "Murray State's Canaan, Belmont's Clark and Byrd Earn Top 2012-13 OVC Men's Basketball Honors". Ohio Valley Conference. March 5, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  24. ^ "Mike DiNunno". Eastern Kentucky University Athletics. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  25. ^ a b Trapani, Enea (November 25, 2013). "BC Beroe signs rookie guard Mike DiNunno". Sportando.com. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  26. ^ "Former Colonel Mike DiNunno To Play Professionally In Bulgaria". Eastern Kentucky University Athletics. November 26, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  27. ^ "Берое изпусна победата на "Левски"" (in Bulgarian). Blitz.bg. December 22, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  28. ^ "DiNunno Game by Game". BGbasket.com. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  29. ^ "Mike DiNunno Career Stats". BGbasket.com. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  30. ^ a b "Corato (Bari) - Torrevento Basket Nord Barese , da Chicago ecco Mike Di Nunno" (in Italian). Puglialive.net. January 28, 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  31. ^ Mainardi, Andrea (February 2, 2014). "Ferrara doma il Nord Barese all'overtime" (in Italian). Basketinside.com. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  32. ^ a b "Player Statistics for Michelle DiNunno". SportingPulse.com. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  33. ^ "Phoenix add guard Mike DiNunno as Pauline departs; EXCLUSIVE interview with DiNunno". The Undersized Basketball Podcast. October 18, 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  34. ^ Jepson, Anthony (January 4, 2015). "Cheshire Phoenix 93 Manchester Giants 75". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  35. ^ a b "Player Statistics for Mike DiNunno". British Basketball League. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  36. ^ "Cheshire Phoenix 80–61 Glasgow Rocks". Glasgow Rocks. December 7, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  37. ^ Woods, Morgan (April 7, 2015). "BBL INSIDER: MORGAN SLICED". MVP247.com. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  38. ^ a b "DiNunno Helps Pro Team Before Injury". Eastern Kentucky University Athletics. June 23, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  39. ^ "Player statistics for Mike DiNunno". SportingPulse.com. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  40. ^ Mantzioukis, Giorgos (August 12, 2015). "Υπέγραψε ο Ντι Νούνο!" (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  41. ^ "Former Colonel DiNunno To Play In Greece". Eastern Kentucky University Athletics. August 14, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  42. ^ "Κύπελλο Ελλάδας Ανδρών: Α' Φάση" (in Greek). Hellenic Basketball Federation. September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  43. ^ "Πάλεψε αλλά ηττήθηκε…" (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. October 31, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  44. ^ "AE PSYCHIKOU 82–80 Iraklis". Galanis Sports Data. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  45. ^ "Παρελθόν (και επίσημα) ο Ντι Νούνο" (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  46. ^ "IRAKLIS Championship 2015-16 Division A2". Galanis Sports Data. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  47. ^ Powell, Dave (February 17, 2017). "Cheshire Phoenix announce return of Mike DiNunno". The Chester Chronicle. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  48. ^ "СуперКупа мъже". nbl.basketball.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  49. ^ Haukur Harðarson (7 January 2019). "KR semur við ítalsk-bandarískan leikstjórnanda". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  50. ^ Kristján Jónsson (13 April 2019). "Ingi Þór talaði DiNunno til". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic).
  51. ^ Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir (4 May 2019). "Umfjöllun: KR - ÍR 98-70 - KR Íslandsmeistari sjötta árið í röð". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  52. ^ "Coruna inks Mike DiNunno". interperformances.com. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  53. ^ Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (31 January 2020). "Di Nunno aftur í KR". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  54. ^ Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (3 September 2020). "Jakob og Helgi framlengja en DiNunno kemur ekki til KR". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  55. ^ "Michael Christopher DiNunno". playbasket.it (in Italian). Retrieved 6 September 2024.
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