Tony Ronzone
Senior Industry Consultant
His Story
Tony Ronzone returned to the Mavericks as Director of Player Personnel. He reunited with the team after serving as scout for from 1997-2000. Ronzone is responsible for all preparation and organization surrounding the college draft and assists with the day to day operations of the personnel department, which includes acquisitions, free agency, salary cap and pro personnel. Also, he is responsible for the coordination all of the scouting for Mavericks, including the NBA, NBA G League, college and international play.
On May 17, 2010, Ronzone was named the Assistant General Manager/Player Personnel of the Minnesota Timberwolves. He assisted the President with day-to-day operations and coordinated all personnel, including the draft and free agency.
Prior to his time in Minnesota, Ronzone was with the Detroit Pistons for nine seasons, most recently as the team’s Director of Basketball Operations. He started with the Pistons in 2001, serving as the team’s Director of International Scouting until 2005 when he was promoted to Director of Basketball Operations. He was a member of the Pistons during their NBA Championship run in 2004.
As a member of the Olympic committee of F.I.B.A., Ronzone has been very active with USA Basketball, where he serves as Director of International Player Personnel. In this position, he assisted with the gold-medal-winning men’s basketball team at the 2008 Olympics (China), the 2010 FIBA World Championships (Turkey) and the 2012 Olympics (London). Renowned for his international basketball acumen, Ronzone began his coaching career as the youngest head coach in New Zealand history (age 22). He has also held head coaching positions with the Saudi Arabian National Team (1992) and the United Arab Emirates Team (1992-1997). In 2001, Ronzone became the first American to coach the Chinese National Team, winning gold at the East Asian Games with a team featuring Yao Ming. Rozone has coached or conducted clinics in over 55 countries around the world. Very popular in Asia with growth of basketball. He is very active with NBA Basketball without Borders and has coached at Euro camp in Treviso, Italy for the past 14 years. Ronzone played college basketball at the University of Nevada, participating in two NCAA tournaments, before finishing his collegiate career at Long Beach State. He also played professionally overseas in New Zealand, the Philippines, along with other countries. He was inducted in the Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland, Calif.) Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Castro Valley California Hall of Fame in 2016. Tony and his wife, Tricia, have twin boys, Cade and Austin who play college basketball at Arizona State. Senior director of basketball for Wasserman.