Quick Facts
ScorpioBiography
Halil Kanacević (born October 23, 1991) is an American-born Montenegrin professional basketball player for Bnei Herzliya of the Israeli Premier League. Previously, he played basketball with Saint Joseph's University, where he helped lead the team to the 2014 Atlantic 10 championship.
High school career
Kanacević attended and played basketball for Curtis High School. Although Halil excelled, Curtis was a chronically overlooked high school in basketball circles, and had the misfortune of barely missing chances to make long runs in New York high school basketball competition. Due to this, he was often overlooked in the recruiting process, although he received offers from University of Central Florida, Manhattan College, Quinnipiac, and Hofstra. He eventually committed to Hofstra.
College career
Kanacević originally committed to Hofstra, but after a season he decided in May 2010 to move to Saint Joseph's University. He made his March Madness debut in 2014, when St. Joseph's was eliminated by eventual tournament-winners Connecticut in the first round; he scored 12 points in St. Joseph's 81-89 loss. Counting his freshman season at Hofstra, Kanacević finished his collegiate career with 1,163 points, 1,028 rebounds, 407 assists and 202 blocked shots. At St. Joseph's, he was coached by Phil Martelli.
Professional career
Kanacević signed his first professional contract with Virtus Roma in April 2014. After only a few months, he terminated his contract with Roma and moved to KK Union Olimpija on a one-year deal. In July 2015, Kanacević joined the Washington Wizards in the NBA's 2015 Summer League. On August 27, 2015, it was announced that CAI Zaragoza of Spain signed Kanacević. On January 6, 2016, he parted ways with Zaragoza and one week later he signed with Montenegrin KK Budućnost for the rest of the season. In June 2016, he signed with Israeli club Bnei Herzliya.
International career
In 2011, when Halil traveled back to visit his uncle Rizo Popović, he played for Montenegro's national men's U20 basketball team. He averaged almost 5 points and rebounds per game during the 2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.
Personal life
He was born in the U.S. and raised in South Beach, Staten Island; his family are ethnic Albanians born in Ostros, Bar and emigrated to the U.S. from Montenegro, then part of Yugoslavia, in the late 1980s.