Renato Villalta

Villalta was introduced to basketball by Augusto Giomo, growing up in the youth teams of Basket Mestre, a team with which he made his debut in Serie B, the second Italian league, at only 16 years old during the 1971–72 season. Within Mestre, Villalta reached the promotion to Serie A in 1973–74, scoring 536 points during the season. He made his debut in Serie A in 1974, playing both as power forward and center. Villalta remained in Mestre until 1976, when he was signed by Virtus Bologna for 400 million lire, a huge amount for the time.

Villalta with Virtus Bologna

In his first years with Virtus, Villalta deeply changed his style of play thanks to coach Dan Peterson, who helped him build a terrific mid-range shot.[1] In 1976–77, Virtus ended first in the regular season, however, it lost the championship finals against Pallacanestro Varese, by 2–0. In the following season, the Black V succeeded in reaching the national finals, but nonetheless, it lost 2–1 against Varese again.[2] The team also reached the final of the Cup Winner's Cup, but lost 84–82 against Gabetti Cantù.[3]

In 1978, after two consecutive second places, coach Peterson left the Black V to sign with its historic rival, Olimpia Milano. After Peterson's departure, Terry Driscoll was appointed new head coach. In the national finals, Virtus faced its former coach, Dan Peterson and his new team, Olimpia. Despite the great expectations around a hard-fought final, the Black V easily won the title in only two games.[4] The team also reached the semi-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup, where it was eliminated for only one point by the Dutch EBBC.[3]

In the following season, Jim McMillian, a 1972 NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers,[5] and Villalta led the team achieving a back-to-back, winning its ninth titles against Cantù.[6] The team took part also in the European Champions Cup, where it was eliminated in the semi-finals group stage.[7]

In the 1980–81 season, the Virtus team reached once again the national finals, but it slightly lost the playoff series by 2–1 against Cantù. Returning to the top in Italy, the Black V attempted to become a major team in Europe too, and in 1981, Virtus reached the final of the FIBA European Champions Cup in Strasbourg, which lost by only one point against Maccabi Tel Aviv.[8] Villalta was a member of the FIBA European Selection, in 1980 and 1981.

In 1983, the 35 years-old Alberto Bucci, from Bologna, became the new head coach. Virtus ended the regular season second, after Peterson's Olimpia. The two teams faced themselves in a historic final, always remembered as one of the best in Italian basketball history, in which Virtus defeated Olimpia by 2–1, reaching its 10th national title, also known as La Stella ("The Star"), due to the star which is attributed to teams that manage to win ten national championships.[9] In the same year, the team completed a domestic double by adding a National Cup.[10]

Villalta played 13 consecutive seasons with Virtus, until the 1988–1989 season, winning three championships and two Italian cups, thus becoming one of the men-symbols of its history. As of today, is also Virtus's all-time top scorer with 7,306 points. Moreover, in 2004, Virtus retired the number 10, used by Villalta during all his career with the club.[11]

He ended his career with Benetton Treviso, with whom he played in two seasons, in 1989–1990 and 1990–1991.