Junior forward Nikola Dragovic came to the Bruins from Belgrade, Serbia, after winning five gold medals with junior Serbian national basketball teams.
Dragovic lived in Serbia while the Kosovo conflict pervaded the region, but remembers little of the war itself. He still has family and friends there.
Since becoming a starter this season for the Bruins, Dragovic has made a name for himself, draining 37.4 percent (55-for-147) of his shots from beyond the arc and making at least one 3-pointer in each of the last 18 regular season games.
Dragovic sat down with Bruin Sports senior staff writer Jason Feder to discuss what life was like in Serbia, his family and what it’s like to be a Bruin.
Daily Bruin: What’s your favorite sport other than basketball?
Nikola Dragovic: I used to play water polo for a year, and I play tennis when I have time.
DB: Ever try to walk on to the team here?
ND: I was playing intramurals last year, and we got to the semifinals but I had to go. We were in the Final Four during the time of the final game so I wasn’t there, and we lost.
DB: Must have been a tough decision to go the Final Four over the IM championships …
ND: Yeah, I was debating it the night before but I decided on the Final Four. It would’ve been fun. I love playing water polo, too.
DB: What do your teammates think about you playing water polo?
ND: They just think I do too much. My first year also I played water polo, and I would play the IM games. I like doing stuff outside of the basketball court.
DB: How does coach Ben Howland feel about that?
ND: I don’t think he knows. I don’t think he should know.
DB: What was the best part of playing on Serbian national teams?
ND: I love the guys on the team. We’ve been friends now for about 11 years. We’re really close, and we talk about once a week with each other. Winning five straight gold medals is just unbelievable. The fact that we had one loss in 11 years is crazy.
DB: How old were you when you first started playing on a national team?
ND: My first time I think I was 11. That was in ’98 ““ the first time I was on the national team.
DB: What was it like growing up in Serbia?
ND: It was tough. I don’t really remember the war in itself. I was really young. But in ’98 and ’99, the bombing from USA was really tough and hard, but other than that it was fun. I still miss my friends from home. It’s a lot different than here.
DB: Are any of your friends out here?
ND: A couple of them. I didn’t really grow up with them, but I knew them from when we played against each other back home. The guys I grew up with are all in Serbia still.
DB: How about your family?
ND: My family’s in Serbia, in Belgrade. They visit once a year here, they come for a month and hang out with me.
DB: Do any of them play sports?
ND: My brother plays basketball. My dad used to. My whole dad’s side played basketball. But my sister is in gymnastics.
DB: Who’s the best basketball player in the family?
ND: The last time I played my dad, I was 14. He beat me, and ever since then he didn’t want to play me again.
DB: So from a young age you were pressured to play basketball?
ND: My dad took me to my first practice, and I just liked it and I just kept going. It’s a family thing and we’re all tall, so …
DB: Who’s the tallest?
ND: I’m the tallest. I’m 6-9, my dad’s about 6-7.
DB: Do you have a 6-8 grandma like Alfred Aboya?
ND: No, my grandma is just regular. About 5-10.
DB: What’s going through your mind when you’re wide-open for a 3?
ND: I hate being too wide-open. You know what I mean? I just get confused. I get open, and I don’t know.
DB: It seems like you’re always open. Why is that?
ND: The thing is, it’s hard to guard when you have Josh Shipp and Darren Collison on the court, and then Jrue. They all can shoot. They all can score. Once they get the ball in the paint, they’ve got to help, and I’m just spacing out for the shot.
DB: Do you talk much trash?
ND: Do I? No, I usually don’t. Not unless someone talks trash to me first.
DB: What’s your favorite line to say?
ND: I would say it in Serbian, usually, so he can’t say anything. It means “come get it.”
DB: Who talks the most trash on the team?
ND: Maybe Josh. He might not be talking a lot, but he’ll just look at people. He’ll give them that look after he dunks or something.
DB: What’s the funniest comment you’ve heard on the court?
ND: Nothing really funny. It’s always mad and angry.
DB: Can you cook?
ND: I can. I like making steaks and pasta. I like making Italian food. I can’t make anything else.
DB: What are you scared of?
ND: I am scared of snakes and little spaces, like being locked in a box. I think I would die in like a minute.
DB: Did you have some childhood box trauma?
ND: Not really. I don’t know what happened, but in close spaces, I’d just start going crazy.
DB: What do you do in your spare time?
ND: I love movies. I watch a ton of movies. I go to movies a lot.
DB: Have you seen “Hoosiers”?
ND: What is that?
DB: A basketball movie. One of the greatest sports movies of all time.
ND: Oh OK, I haven’t seen it. I’ll go see it.