Hugo López (basketball)

Hugo López Muñoz (born 29 July 1975) is a Spanish professional basketball coach. He is currently the current coach for Liaoning Flying Leopards in the Chinese Basketball Association. He has coached many professional clubs in the past. López was also head coach of the Sweden national team from 2018 to 2021.

Hugo López
Liaoning Flying Leopards
Positionassistant
LeagueChinese Basketball Association
Personal information
Born (1975-07-29) 29 July 1975 (age 49)
Valladolid, Spain
Career information
High schoolNorthwestern SHS
(Albion, Pennsylvania)
Career history
As coach:
2000–2001Northwestern SHS (assistant)
2001–2002Edinboro University
2002–2009Villa de Los Barrios (assistant)
2009–2011Gipuzkoa (assistant)
2011–2014Real Madrid (assistant)
2014Malabo Kings
2015Fuenlabrada
2015–2016Halifax Hurricanes
2016–2017Rec do Libolo
2019–2021Real Valladolid
2021–2022Tokyo Z
2022–2023Liaoning Flying Leopards (assistant)
2023–2024Liaoning Flying Leopards
2024–presentLiaoning Flying Leopards (assistant)
Career highlights and awards

Playing career

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López was trained in the sport of basketball with Fórum Valladolid and Northwestern Senior High School in Albion, Pennsylvania.[1]

Coaching career

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López began his career as an assistant basketball coach at his alma mater Northwestern High School in the United States in 2000. He remained in the country for the following season, coaching Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.[2] In 2002, López moved back to his home country of Spain and began serving as an assistant under various head coaches for CB Villa de Los Barrios until 2009.[2] In his final season there, he landed the same job with the Liga ACB team Lagun Aro GBC, where the head coach was Pablo Laso.[2] In 2014, López moved to the Malabo Kings of the Equatoguinean League in Africa.[3] In January 2015, López was named the head coach of Baloncesto Fuenlabrada in the ACB league in Spain, succeeding Luis Casimiro.[4] He was sacked in April 2015 after not avoiding the relegation positions in the table.[5]

On 30 September 2015, López was appointed the first head coach of the newly created Halifax Hurricanes of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL). Team CEO Mike Brien said, "We are excited to bring a coach of this caliber to Halifax’s new NBL Canada team."[6][7][8] After one season, the Hurricanes and López were unable to reach to come to terms on a new agreement and parted ways.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Hugo López, excolaborador de Pablo Laso, nuevo entrenador del Baloncesto Fuenlabrada". 20 minutos (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Hugo López". ACB (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Oviedo Baloncesto realiza un partido de entrenamiento con Malabo Kings". Federación Española De Baloncesto (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  4. ^ "HUGO LÓPEZ, NUEVO TÉCNICO DEL MONTAKIT FUENLABRADA". BaloncestoFuenlabrada.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Fuenlabrada: Hugo López, destituido; Jesús Sala toma la alternativa. Burtt, apartado" (in Spanish). Solobasket. 6 April 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Halifax NBL Canada team names Hugo Lopez as Head Coach". NBL Canada. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  7. ^ Pearson, Heide. "New Halifax national basketball team gets first head coach". Global News. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  8. ^ MacDonald, Glenn. "Spaniard Hugo Lopez hired as head coach of Halifax's new NBL Canada team". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Hurricanes Appoint New Coach/GM". OurSports Central. 28 September 2016.
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