Young Aussie Tyro Mirko Djeric is currently trialling with Serbian superclub KK Partizan. The club competes in the Serbian League, Adriatic League and the Euroleague and is the most successful basketball club in Serbia.
KK Partizan is the defending Serbian basketball champion and currently holds 19 league titles, having won the last eleven of them consecutively. It has been the breeding ground for home grown players such as Vlade Divac and Nenad Krstic as well as included stops by fellow Aussies Nathan Jawai and Aleks Maric in recent years.
Bankstown product Djeric has Serbian roots as his parents who moved to Australia during the civil war. Djeric is ecstatic for the chance to play in his ancestral home. “Here I am at the airport. And soon I’ll be in Belgrade. Finally I will make a boyhood dream come true, being in Serbia” Djeric said regarding his trial with Partizan.
An extremely talented player, who was a huge part of the Australian Under 17 Silver Medal winning squad in Lithuania this year. He is capable of putting up huge numbers in a hurry, which was on display when he delivered 21 points from 7/11 three-pointers (also dishing out 9 assists) against Croatia in the game to earn a berth in the Gold medal game.
Djeric was named in the FIBA All-Star Five (2nd team) for tournament after delivering 9.8ppg, 2.0rpg and 5.6apg in the team’s eight games.
Mirko Djeric will be eligible for the NBA Draft in 2017.
Check out the AussieHoopla podcast on iTunes for our review of the Australian Under 17 Men’s Silver medal win in Lithuania.