There was a photograph hanging in the basement of the Banchero family home in Seattle. A USA Basketball team photo from the 1990s. One of the players was Paolo’s mother. His bedroom was in the basement. He saw it every day. ‘That was literally one of my biggest dreams as a kid, to play for USA.’
Paolo Banchero was born November 12, 2002, in Seattle. His mother, Rhonda Smith-Banchero, played college basketball at Washington, where she left as the all-time leading scorer with 2,948 points. She was the first Washington player drafted by the WNBA (3rd round, Sacramento Monarchs, 2000). Played professionally in the ABL and overseas. Husky Hall of Fame 2004. Became the basketball coach at Holy Names Academy in Seattle.
His father, Mario, played tight end at Washington. Mario’s Italian ancestors immigrated from northern Italy in the early 1900s and settled in Black Diamond, Washington — a small mining town in the Cascade foothills — working as farmers and coal miners. Rhonda and Mario met at Washington, married July 31, 1999. Three children: Paolo, daughter Mia (soccer player), youngest son Giulio (signed for Eastern Washington football). With a father named Mario, an uncle named Angelo, and a brother named Giulio: ‘I like having a unique name. When you think of Paolo, you think of me.’
Rhonda made him practice with the girls’ team at Holy Names to keep him humble. ‘She’s always been the one to humble me. Never too high, never too low.’ He never saw her play — she’d retired three years before he was born — but watched enough tape to recognize her game in his own. They watched WNBA games together.
In February 2020, he received Italian citizenship. Italy offered him a spot on their senior national team before college. He’d been cut from USA Basketball youth teams, which left him frustrated. But the photo in the basement kept pulling him back. He visited Italy for the first time in 2023: ‘You know how you get butterflies? It was like that. I was so proud.’
At O’Dea High School (his father’s school): backup QB on the state championship football team as a freshman; led basketball to the 3A state title as a sophomore. Washington Gatorade POY. Most expected him to stay home at Washington. Instead he committed to Duke, 2,341 miles away.