FIBA Basketball

    2024 Hall of Fame Class: Romain Sato

    MIES (Switzerland) - One of Africa's finest basketball players since the millennium and really of all time, Romain Sato has joined the FIBA Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2024.

    MIES (Switzerland) - One of Africa's finest basketball players since the millennium and really of all time, Romain Sato has joined the FIBA Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2024.

    If there is one thing that rang true throughout the Central African Republic player's long and successful career, it's that every team he competed for was among the best in the competition. He was not just skilled and talented but resolute and unyielding.

    Sato represented the Central African Republic at four FIBA AfroBaskets. He was named to the AfroBasket All-Star Five in 2009, when the competition was staged in Libya. Sato averaged 21.6 points (second best in the competition) and 8.6 rebounds (fifth best) as his country reached the Quarter-Finals before finishing sixth.


    Sato (No. 10) was Central African Republic's best player and an All-Star Five selection in Libya

    On the club scene, he was the ultimate winner. Sato's value wasn't just in what he provided in terms of points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, but how he seemed to raise the level of play of those around him. His winning mindset was contagious.

    Sato wasn't the tallest of players or the most athletic, yet when his teams needed buckets or rebounds or steals, he was always the player to get them.

    Born in Bimbo, Central Africa Republic, Sato left the Mother Continent and played high school basketball in Dayton, Ohio. In the same state, he played basketball for Xavier University in Cincinnati, raising eyebrows with his gritty and determined play. He averaged more than 30 minutes a game and started all four years, leading the Musketeers to four consecutive NCAA Tournament berths.


    The combative Sato had championship DNA

    Though a late second-round draft pick in the NBA by the San Antonio Spurs in 2004, Sato spent the entirety of his pro career in Europe, suiting up in Italy, Spain, Greece, and Turkey.

    A 1.96m (6ft 5in) shooting guard/small forward, Sato collected trophies in all of those countries. His star shone especially bright in Italy with Siena, including in 2010 when he was named MVP of the league. He also excelled in Greece with Panathinaikos, in Turkey with Fenerbahce and in Spain with Valencia.

    In 2014 while at Valencia Basket, in arguably the toughest domestic league on the old continent, Sato made the Spanish ACB's All-Star Five. In his last season with Valencia, he captured the Spanish Liga Endesa title.

    Now he's a FIBA Hall of Famer.

    He is being enshrined in the Class of 2024 which includes Miao Lijie (China), Reggie Miller (USA), Danira Nakic-Bilic (Croatia), Kirk Samuel Penney (New Zealand), Skaidrite Smildzina-Budovska (Latvia), Predrag Stojakovic (Serbia), and Daniel Lowell Peterson (USA).

    Name Romain Lebel Guessagba Sato
    Category of inductee Player (Guard)
    Date of birth 2nd March 1981
    Place of birth Bimbo, Central African Republic
    Nationality Central African
    Height 1.96 m, 6 ft 5 in
    Teams
        Aurora Jesi (2004-2006) FC Barcelona (2006) Siena (2006-2010) Panathinaikos (2010-2012) Fenerbahçe (2012-2013) Valencia Basket (2013-2017) [/unordered] [/unordered]

         

    Club highlights
        Three-time Italian Super Cup winner (2007, 2008, 2009) Two-time Italian Cup winner (2009, 2010) Four-time Italian League champion (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) Greek League champion (2011) EuroLeague champion (2011) Greek Cup winner (2012) Turkish Cup winner (2013) Euro Cup Champion (2014) Spanish League champion (2017) Spanish Super Cup winner (2017) [/unordered] [/unordered]
    National team highlights
        Played in four AfroBasket competitions (2001, 2009, 2015, 2021) [/unordered] [/unordered]
    Individual highlights
        AfroBasket All Star five (2009) Italian League MVP (2010) Spanish League All Star five (2014) [/unordered] [/unordered]

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