Director of Player Personnel of Purdue University, Sasha Stefanovic, spoke to Basketball Sphere about the upcoming March Madness Final Four, in which his team will participate, he touched on the interest from Partizan, the end of his career at Mega, college prodigy Zach Edey and the meeting with NC State.
March Madness is one of the most-watched sports events in the world. The best college teams have only one goal – to win the title of national champion, and the popular “win or go home” competition system contributes to extremely exciting clashes and big surprises. Because of this, it is even more demanding to reach the very top, which is what Purdue is aiming for this season.
For the second time in a row, this university won the Big 10 conference, and they achieved historic success after a 44-year hiatus – they found themselves again in the Final Four. They will now have a chance to match the best record set in 1969, when Duke beat them in the finals, with a win over NC State. Logically, if they register two wins, they will win the title of national champion, for the first time ever.
On Purdue’s legacy
Hence the euphoria reigning at Purdue is not surprising. Led by Zach Edey, the state’s leading player averaging nearly 25 points and 12 rebounds, and legendary head coach Matt Painter, in his 19th season on the program’s bench, they have a serious chance to do something big.
Players like Glenn Robinson, E’Twaun Moore, Carsen Edwards, JaJuan Johnsons, and John Wooden, who would later become the most successful coach in NCAA history, with 10 titles (all from UCLA), passed through Purdue.
Undoubtedly, a program with such a background has a special place in US college basketball, which adds weight to the role Purdue coach Sasha Stefanovic has played in creating one of the greatest successes of all time. His story is extremely interesting, and he inherited his love for basketball from his father, Ljubiša, a former Crvena Zvezda player and the first Serbian, who was ever selected in the NBA draft, according to certain reports.
About the break of 44 years and the role in the coaching staff
Now Stefanovic has become the first Serbian coach, whose team will participate in the Final Four. He previously spent several seasons as a player at the same University, so it’s clear how familiar he is with the entire system.
Speaking to Basketball Sphere early on, he described how he feels about Purdue being back on the big stage after a long hiatus.
“For us, it’s something we’ve always wanted to achieve, the main goal, to reach the Final Four and win the championship. The last time we were among the top four teams was in 1980. We were close a few times in the meantime when I was a player. This is a big deal, not only for the team, but also for the students, the people who work there, and the fans. It’s a really good feeling that we have the opportunity to play in the Final Four and, hopefully, win the championship,” Stefanovic said.
He then detailed his role on the Purdue coaching staff, which he became a part of last summer.
“Another former player P.J. Thompson and I have similar role – we run the offense. What I do is call the out-of-bounds plays, while P.J. deals with the offensive sets. We strictly do just that. Right now, I think we’re the second-best offensive team in the league,” explained Stefanovic, although Purdue is even the leader by some parameters.
About two coaching legends
Purdue changed its identity compared to some previous years, which the Serbian strategist touched on, stating which characteristics best describe his team.
“I was an hour away from Purdue and always wanted to play there. I didn’t know if I was good enough. My older brother graduated there, which was another factor. From a basketball point of view, what distinguishes our program is that we play hard, we are tough, we play good defense and in the last few seasons we have become an offensive team, which can be seen in the numbers.
We are a very physical team, we always go for the rebound, we try not to turnover the ball, we are the best when it comes to three-point shooting percentage. We had two coaches who left a deep mark – Gene Keady and Matt Painer, for whom, fortunately, I had the opportunity to play, and now to be part of his coaching staff. It’s a pleasure to learn from a Hall of Fame coach early in his career,” he said, alluding to the fact that only two men have led this program in the past 44 years.
Serbian strategists are familiar with success in the NCAA. Nemanja Jovanovic, better known as Yogi in the USA, is currently one of the coaches at the prestigious UCLA program, from where Ivo Simovic also joined Darko Rajakovic in the coaching staff of the Toronto Raptors. Some of them can be said to be pioneers of Serbian coaching in the NCAA. Stefanovic is aware of the kind of basketball country he comes from, which is why, as he said, he is very happy to be the first Serbian coach ever to be in the Final Four of March Madness.
“I didn’t know about that information until my friend Yogi tweeted about it. Big deal, I grew up surrounded by many Serbs. I did not grow up in Serbia, but my father was born in Aleksinac, he was drafted in 1985. I’m new to the whole coaching story and I’m trying to go into the job in as much detail as possible, after my playing career. I’m ready for a new chapter.”
About the end of his career in Mega and the call from Partizan
After that, the Purdue coach devoted time to his playing career. More precisely, how he cut her off in the middle of his season with Mega last year.
“Everyone simply burns out at some point. I was in Kolossos and I really enjoyed it there, then I was in Mega for three months and it was hard for me, because there wasn’t the love that I usually had when I was growing up. It wasn’t the same. I loved every minute of that experience, I just wasn’t sure I still liked the whole process of the grind where you’re working on yourself constantly, you’re in the gym every day.
That aside, I love everything about absorbing new information and learning new things, being surrounded by quality people. The opportunity to be part of the coaching staff at Purdue also influenced my decision. It was a combination of everything and it seems to me that everything is right now.”
Stefanovic, he confirms, was also interesting to Partizan as a player, but there was no tangible offer, he admits.
“It was nothing real, they were just interested. They talked to my father about whether I might be interested in signing a long-term contract. There was an option to develop me, to first be in a smaller club and if I prove myself, I would go to a higher level. Nothing happened, I signed with Misko Raznatovic. It was just rumours, nothing tangible, but they called my father. I’m not sure, but I think it was Zoran Savic, at the end of the 2021/22 season. Although my connections with Crvena Zvezda are known because of my father, Partizan is an exceptional club and it would be a great opportunity. It didn’t happen.”
He would learn from Obradović, and enjoys in Real Madrid
Now he believes that working with Europe’s most decorated expert could have helped him a lot.
“I wouldn’t say that I regret it. It would certainly be an opportunity to learn from extremely high-quality people, who are the best of the best. Zeljko Obradovic is like that. His personality, how he gets the best out of players and how long he’s been doing it… It would be good to get to know all that. It would be great if I had the chance to play for him.”
His basketball philosophy is naturally influenced by European basketball, to which he is attached. One team is particularly interesting to him, when it comes to ideas he later uses at Purdue.
“I like watching the EuroLeague, I like the European style, because it is different from the USA. The college is more similar to the European style. There is more space in the NBA, more athletes play in that league. We implement many European things in our actions. I especially like to watch Real Madrid, they have a lot of quality tall players, a lot of shooting talent as well.”
“Zach Edey? He will have a big impact wherever he goes.”
When it comes to high-quality bigs, Real Madrid and Purdue have something in common. Edey is playing masterfully this season and is the best individual in Purdue’s ranks. Also the most deserving of the fact that they have come so far. Many compare him with Boban Marjanovic. Hence the skepticism that he would succeed in the NBA.
“He is dominant, he is constantly fouled. They are doubling him all the time, from all sides, so there are a lot of things we have to deal with. The way he overcomes all that and continues to be so dominant speaks volumes for his quality. He improved a lot, he was one of my teammates. He wasn’t that good, now he’s more skilled, he has a better ‘body’ and one thing they overlook is his ability to play hard.
He is super competitive, he doesn’t stop the whole game. His style of play doesn’t necessarily fit in the NBA, but he won’t stop working on himself because he understands what he needs to do to be successful. Although he may not be a starter in the NBA, he will definitely have a big impact, as well as playing in the EuroLeague or EuroCup”, said Stefanovic.
About NC State
Purdue will take on NC State in the first March Madness semifinal, while UConn and Alabama will meet in the second. Stefanovic’s rival is the most pleasant surprise of the tournament, which favored Purdue will try to stop.
“A big challenge for us, they were very close to not being in the tournament at all and now they have caught their form and reached the Final Four. They believe in their abilities, they have a talented center DJ Burns, who they surrounded with good scorers. Maybe some of our players will be nervous at the beginning, because they are playing in front of 80,000 people, at the American football stadium. It’s a lot, it’s different. When we settle down and overcome that and do the things that got us here, we’ll be competitive. It will be a good game”, concluded Sasha Stefanovic for Basketball Sphere.