Halil KanaceviÃÂ (; born October 23, 1991) is an American-born Montenegrin former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at Saint Joseph's University, where he helped lead the team to the 2014 Atlantic 10 championship.
KanaceviÃÂ attended and played basketball for Curtis High School. Although he excelled, Curtis was a chronically overlooked high school in basketball circles, and had the misfortune of barely missing chances to make long runs in New York high school basketball competition. Due to this, he was often overlooked in the recruiting process, although he received offers from University of Central Florida, Manhattan College, Quinnipiac, and Hofstra. He eventually committed to Hofstra.
Kanaceviàoriginally committed to Hofstra, but after a season he decided in May 2010 to move to Saint Joseph's University. He made his March Madness debut in 2014, when St. Joseph's was eliminated by eventual tournament-winners Connecticut in the first round; he scored 12 points in St. Joseph's 81âÂÂ89 loss. Counting his freshman season at Hofstra, Kanaceviàfinished his collegiate career with 1,163 points, 1,028 rebounds, 407 assists and 202 blocked shots. At St. Joseph's, he was coached by Phil Martelli.
KanaceviÃÂ signed his first professional contract with Virtus Roma in April 2014. After only a few months, he terminated his contract with Roma and moved to KK Union Olimpija on a one-year deal. In July 2015, KanaceviÃÂ joined the Washington Wizards in the NBA's 2015 Summer League. On August 27, 2015, it was announced that CAI Zaragoza of Spain signed KanaceviÃÂ. On January 6, 2016, he parted ways with Zaragoza and one week later he signed with Montenegrin KK BuduÃÂnost for the rest of the season.
On June 27, 2016, Kanaceviàsigned with Israeli team Bnei Herzliya for the 2016âÂÂ17 season.
On June 7, 2017, KanaceviÃÂ signed a one-year contract extension with Bnei Herzliya. However, on November 6, 2017, KanaceviÃÂ was released by Herzliya after appearing in five games. In December 2017, he signed with Trikala Aries of the Greek Basket League.
In 2011, when Halil traveled back to visit his uncle Rizo PopoviÃÂ, he played for Montenegro's national men's U20 basketball team. He averaged almost 5 points and rebounds per game during the 2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.
Halil Kanacevic played for Gael Nation in the 2018 edition of The Basketball Tournament. In 2 games, he averaged 1 point, 1.5 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game. Gael Nation reached the second round before falling to Armored Athlete.
KanaceviÃÂ was born in South Beach, Staten Island, New York to ethnic Albanian parents from Bar, Montenegro. His parents emigrated to the United States from SR Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia in the late 1980s.