Michele Christopher Di Nunno (born January 29, 1990) is an American-Italian professional basketball player, playing the point guard position. Born in Maywood, Illinois, he played high school basketball at Lake Park and Von Steuben. Initially, he committed to Northern Illinois to play college basketball, where he received MAC All-Freshman team honors. After two seasons, he transferred to Eastern Kentucky. DiNunno was named in the OVC All-Newcomer team in his junior season and first team all-OVC in his senior season at Eastern Kentucky. Following his graduation, he has played professionally in several leagues in Europe. In 2019 he won the Icelandic championship as a member of KR.
High school career
DiNunno started his high school career at Lake Park. In his sophomore season, he posted 17 points per game. He then went on to transfer to Von Steuben to play under coach Vince Carter. In his debut in the CPL he posted 19 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists to help his team win against Morgan Park. In his junior season, Dinunno averaged 18 points, five assists and four rebounds per game. He improved his numbers in his senior season averaging 22 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game, to lead his school to a 24–6 record. Von Steuben won sectional titles in his junior and senior season and DiNunno received all-state honorable mentions in both seasons. DiNunno was a two-star recruit according to Rivals.com and a three star recruit according to 247Sports.com, ranked 83rd in the point guard position.
College career
DiNunno was initially offered a scholarship to play for Northern Illinois by Rob Judson, but committed to the school in 2007 as the offer was confirmed by new head coach Ricardo Patton. Three games into his freshman season, DiNunno had a Northern Illinois career-high in scoring with 27 points, to help the Huskies overcome Indiana State 86–79. Against Southeast Missouri State he posted a career-high 6 steals to combine with 16 points and 5 assists. By leading all MAC freshmen in scoring, assists, free throw percentage, three-pointers made and minutes played, he was named in the conference's all-freshman team. Before the start of his sophomore season, three of DiNunno's grandparents died within a month and a half; later on he admitted it was a difficult task to balance that with performing at 19 years of age. Versus Western Michigan, DiNunno recorded his first career double-double by posting a season-high 21 points and a career-best 10 assists, to help his team win its fourth game in a row. Following the end of his sophomore season DiNunno announced that he would not return to Northern Illinois for his junior season.
DiNunno initially planned to transfer to, NCAA Division II college, Quincy. After Luke Strege left Quincy to join Eastern Kentucky as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, DiNunno chose to transfer to Eastern Kentucky to continue playing Division I basketball. His transfer was made official in May 2010 with DiNunno having to sit out for the 2010–11 season due to NCAA transfer rules. He had a career-high 33 points performance against Tennessee State as his team lost 91–85 in double overtime. For his performances in his first season at Eastern Kentucky he was named in OVC All-Newcomer Team, an honor given to first year players in the league, freshmen and transfers. In his senior season, DiNunno made a lay-up with 2.3 seconds left in the game against Western Carolina to help his team win and reach a 7–0 record. The record was extended to 9–0, the school's best start in 66 years. Starting all 34 games he played in the season, he achieved a season-high 24 points performance four times; three of them were in consecutive games in January versus Belmont, Jacksonville State and Tennessee State, the fourth being against Tennessee State in March. By leading Eastern Kentucky in scoring, assists and steals and guiding the team to a school record in victories, DiNunno was named first team all-OVC in 2013.
College statistics
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