Davide Casarin (born May 22, 2003) is an Italian professional basketball player who plays for Umana Reyer Venezia of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Standing at 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in), he plays the guard positions.
Early career
Casarin started playing basketball at four years old.[1]
He played with the Reyer Venezia under-18 team at the 2019 Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade, where he was named to the All-Tournament Team despite being two years younger than his competition.[2] In four games, he put up averages of 18.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.0 blocks per contest.[2]
Casarin was selected to play in the second-annual Adidas International U16 All-Star Game held during the 2019 EuroLeague Final Four in May.[3] After leading Team Europe to a 97–85 victory over Team Asia with 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists, he was named MVP of the game.[4][5]
At the 2020 Adidas Next Generation Tournament Kaunas, he averaged 17.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 3.8 steals and 1.5 blocks per game while Reyer Venezia finished in sixth place. A few days later, he was named Finals MVP of the Lega Basket Next Gen Cup, a domestic cup competition for U18 teams, after recording 22 points, 17 rebounds and six assists in the final against Pallacanestro Reggiana.[6][7]
Professional career
He made his professional debut in Lega Basket Serie A on May 12, 2019, coming off the bench during a win against Brescia Leonessa.[1][8] The 15-year-old scored two points in three minutes.[2] He also played two home playoff games against Trento that postseason.[2]
He was officially promoted to the senior team ahead of the 2019–20 season,[8] although he continued to split time with the under-18 team.[2] He made his EuroCup debut on October 1, playing two minutes in a 66–63 defeat to KK Partizan in round one.[2] At the age of 16, he became the youngest player in team history to play in a European competition, as well as the 17th youngest player in EuroCup history.[9] In round 10, he recorded four points, one rebound, three assists, one steal and one block against Rytas Vilnius.[2]
On June 24, 2020, the team announced he was returning for an additional year.[10]
Casarin's first international experience was with the national under-14 team in 2017.[15] He played with the national under-15 team at the Trofeo dell'Amicizia in Troyes in 2018.[8] That same year, he was named MVP of the U16 Torneo Villa de Íscar in Spain after scoring a game-high 15 points in the championship game win over the host team.[16] He also played at the 2019 Bellegarde sur Valserine U16 International Tournament in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, France.[15]
Casarin averaged 8.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals across four games at the 2019 FIBA U18 European Championship in Volos, Greece.[1][2] He then played at the 2019 FIBA U16 European Championship on home soil, leading Italy to a bronze medal after averaging 15.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game.[2] It was Italy's first medal at the competition since 1991, and also meant they would qualify for the Under-17 World Cup in 2020 for their first appearance since 2014.[2]