Mike Sylvester

Mike Sylvester was an American basketball player who played in college at the University of Dayton. He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons of the NBA and the Carolina Cougars of the ABA, but never played professionally in the United States. Sylvester signed with Olimpia Milano and played for them in the 1974-5 FIBA Korać Cup. He stayed in Italy and helped Olimpia win the 1975-76 FIBA European Cup Winners’ Cup.

As his grandfather was an Italian citizen, Sylvester was eligible for Italian citizenship and became a dual Italo-American citizen in 1977. He played for Olimpia until 1980 after a dispute with a teammate led to him being asked to leave the team. Sylvester then signed with Pesaro, although he later played in Italy with Basket Rimini and Virtus Bologna.

In 1980, when the United States boycotted the Moskva Olympics, Sylvester was concerned if he needed to do so also, and contacted the US State Department, which told him he could play. He became the only USA citizen to win a medal at the 1980 Moskva Olympics when Italy took the silver. Sylvester later became a high school basketball coach in his native Cincinnati. He came from an athletic family, as brother Steve played in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders and another brother, Vince, played football at the University of Cincinnati.