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Brad Underwood On Why Illini Basketball Recruits the Balkans

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This offseason, Illini basketball kind of became Illini basketBalkan. When all was said and done in the college hoops silly season, Illinois had added three new players from the Balkan states (to go with the one they already had on the roster), plus an American whose name sounds like he should be from that region. Naturally Balkan Illini GIFs, memes, A.I. stuff, often focusing on Illini head coach Brad Underwood, proliferated on social media.

Underwood himself, or should we say Bradimir Underwoodivic, is getting into it, and having a lot of fun!

“Why would I not?” Underwood responded when we brought it up to him at the Illini basketball media opportunity prior to the football season opening win over Western Illinois.

“They’re all good players. They’re all here. We got Mihailo (Petrovic, from Prokuplje, Serbia) here this past weekend.

illini basketbalkan

“We didn’t do anything this week, so we’ll start after the holiday. But, yeah, why not?

“You know, it’s there, I’m gonna have fun while I’m doing this. And you never know, there may be an orange jump suit in the future.”

Yes, an orange jumpsuit may be coming (although he’s almost certainly joking).

You heard it here first! And Underwood is completely right- he should be having fun with this stuff. We all should be able to have fun at our jobs.

So is there something in the water over there?

What is it about this specific basketball talent pool, in this part of the world?

the balkans

“They’re talented, they’re big, they’re extremely well coached,” Underwood answered.

“I did a clinic in Belgrade at the end of June, and it was great to sit down and just talk basketball with Euro league coaches. And they’re phenomenal.

“They’re as good as any coaches in the world. So it’s nice to get get those guys and get them over here and get him exposed to the big 10.”

illini basketbalkans

Brad Underwood met the media during the special event held for the return of the legendary 2004-05 team. 

Obviously, there will be some adjustments involved. Some things are bound to be lost in translation.

Joining Petrovic in the cadre of new Illini players hailing from that part of Eastern Europe are Zvonimir Ivisic (from Vodice, Croatia, he now reunites with his twin brother Tomislav), and David Mirkovic (Niksic, Montenegro).

andre stojakovic

Andrej Stojakovic (who we learned this week is currently dealing with a knee sprain) hails from Carmichael, California.

Underwood explained some of the challenges that will be involved in integrating the guys, and getting them properly settled in, on the other side of the world.

mihailo petrovic

“Connectivity, just getting them connected,” he responded to a reporter query on this topic.

“Understanding how to be a great teammate, understanding how to work, developing our grit, our ‘every day guys’ mentality.

“It’s different for those guys, they practice a little bit differently, you know, they haven’t been in the weight room, so there’s some adjustment in understanding communication and lingo and languages.

tomislav ivisic

“All those things are real things, and, so we gotta have some time to adjust to those as well, and that’s what this time of year is for.”

Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”

He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter