Xabier Añúa, lawyer, former player and coach of Baskonia in the 80s and Barcelona in the late 60s and early 70s, and basketball forerunner in Álava, died Friday in Vitoria at 89 years of age.
The longing was an illustrious Vitorian, awarded numerous awards in the Basque capital such as the 'Golden Celedón', and marked an era in national basketball at the head of teams such as the KAS or FC Barcelona, the French Antibes or Baskonia, among others.
In the sixties he trained the Kas de Vitoria, with which he played a good role that allowed him to sign as coach of Barcelona in 1968, which he directed until 1972.
In 2017 he received the Gold Medal of the Spanish Association of Basketball Trainers.
Discoverer of illustrious players and coaches such as Aíto García Reneses, who was united by a strong friendship, directed the national teams of Chile, Venezuela and Colombia and was one of the first national coaches who traveled to New York (United States) where he lived first -hand the murder of Martin Luther King in 1968.
He was the founder of the Spanish Association of Basketball Trainers (AEEB) in 1973 and always maintained a strong relationship with Baskonia.
On a cultural level, Xabier Alfou pioneered jazz to the Basque capital with the first musical programs of that style, which later resulted in the Jazz Festival of Vitoria led by his brother, Iñaki Añúa.
