Paolo Banchero

Banchero was born Nov. 12, 2002 in Seattle, Washington. His mother, Rhonda, played college basketball at Washington and left as the team's all-time leading scorer and went on to play professionally before becoming a basketball coach at Holy Names Academy in Seattle. His father, Mario, played college football at Washington. Banchero is of Italian descent on his father's side -- his mother is African American -- and he received Italian citizenship in February of 2020 and is eligible to play for the Italian national basketball team. Growing up, Banchero played basketball, football and participated in track. He ranked among the top 50 eighth-graders nationally in both football and basketball. As a freshman at O'Dea High School in Seattle, Banchero was the backup quarterback on the state championship team in addition to playing basketball. In hoops, he averaged 14.1 points and 10.2 rebounds. As a sophomore, he led the school to the Class 3A state championship and was named most valuable player behind averages of 18.2 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists. As a junior, he was named Washington Gatorade Player of the Year and MaxPreps Junior of the Year behind 22.6 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.6 blocks per game. He was also named to the McDonald's All-American Game and Jordan Brand Classic rosters, plus was a five-star recruit. In August of 2020, he committed to play college ball at Duke. Starting all 39 of his appearances as a freshman, Banchero averaged 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 33.0 minutes. He was named ACC Freshman of the Year and was Consensus All-American Second Team. In the 2022 NBA Draft, he was selected No. 1 overall by the Orlando Magic.