He’s more than six thousand miles from his birthplace, but
Ivan Radenovic has good reason to call Arizona home.
Of course, six months ago, he had never even heard of the state.
Just three weeks ago, Radenovic left Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro to
find a new life as part of the men’s basketball team at
Arizona.
“The players accepted me like a part of the family
immediately,” Radenovic said.
His new 13-member clan on the hardwood will play a large part in
Radenovic’s development both on and off the court.
In addition to the woes that every freshman faces, he must also
deal with living in a new country, speaking a new language, and
playing for one of the strongest teams in the Pac-10 in the No. 7
Wildcats, who face UCLA on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.
But Radenovic said he is not nervous about living on his own,
making friends or surviving the spring semester, which began Monday
at Tucson.
“I just want to play basketball and study,” he
said.
So far, everything is going as planned.
It all began when Radenovic was contacted by Arizona staff in
June. A meniscal tear in forward Isiah Fox’s left knee in
early December left Arizona with only one true post player, center
Channing Frye. Radenovic would be the answer to the Wildcats’
post-play needs.
After studying for required college-entrance exams including the
SAT and TOEFL, an English-proficiency test, Radenovic also had to
meet the approval of the NCAA clearinghouse committee before flying
from the bustling metropolis of Belgrade to the quiet desert
community of Tucson.
Leaving behind family, friends and life as Radenovic knew it was
difficult. But the opportunity to play basketball and study
simultaneously was an offer he couldn’t turn down.
“In Belgrade, I didn’t really have a chance to
play,” Radenovic said. “I wasn’t a star. But when
I came here, Coach Olson gave me a chance to play
basketball.”
Radenovic started playing competitive club basketball at the age
of nine and he graduated from the Secondary School of Sports in
Serbia-Montenegro in May of last year. He played for a youth team,
KK Partizan, for two seasons before moving to the United
States.
Since he had played two minutes in a professional game last
year, Radenovic sat out a one-game suspension and began playing on
Dec. 28 in Arizona’s 107-91 victory over Liberty. He tallied
17 points and nine rebounds, and is averaging 11.8 points per game
since joining the Wildcats.
“He is very crafty with the ball,” Arizona forward
Andre Igoudala said after Radenovic’s sparkling first game.
“When he has the ball he is going to either score or make a
good pass for an assist.”
In addition, Radenovic’s play that night was rusty from
six months of not practicing. Once in shape, Arizona coach Lute
Olson is confident that Radenovic will be productive.
“He is going to make a huge difference for us this
year,” Olson said.
In contrast to some of his previous coaches, Radenovic feels his
improvement will be exponential with the help of Olson.
“Olson is a totally different person. He’s not
yelling. He’s trying to help everybody and that’s why
he’s a good coach,” Radenovic said.
“He worked with me on every part of my game. I am
improving,” he said.
Not only is he improving on the court but life has been getting
easier for Radenovic in Tucson as well.
He will see his father for the first time in over a month in
February and will see the rest of his family in May when school
ends. Like most freshmen, he is excited to begin classes.
And he’s playing basketball.
“He will definitely help us in the long run,” Frye
said of Radenovic. “His attitude and his versatility will be
awesome for us.”