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Sasha Stefanovic

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Not to be confused with Saša Stefanović or Saša Stevanović.
Sasha Stefanovic
Stefanovic with Purdue in 2022
Purdue Boilermakers
PositionDirector of Player Personnel
Personal information
Born (1998-11-29) November 29, 1998 (age 26)
Crown Point, Indiana
NationalitySerbian / American
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High schoolCrown Point
(Crown Point, Indiana)
CollegePurdue (2017–2022)
NBA draft2022: undrafted
Playing career2022–2023
PositionShooting guard
Number55
Career history
2022Kolossos Rodou
2022–2023Mega Basket
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing the  United States
Summer Universiade
Silver medal – second place 2017 Taipei Team

Aleksandar "Sasha" Stefanovic (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар "Саша" Стефановић; born November 29, 1998) is a Serbian-American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers. He is now the Director of Player Personnel for Purdue basketball.

High school career

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Stefanovic attended Crown Point High School and played alongside future Indiana player Grant Gelon.[1] Stefanovic averaged 15.4 points, 7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game as a junior, earning First Team All-Region honors.[2] In the 2016 Class 4A Crown Point Sectional championship game against Valparaiso High School, he hit a three-pointer at the end of regulation in a 59–54 double-overtime victory and recorded 18 points.[3] As a senior, Stefanovic averaged 20 points, 7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game on a team that finished with a 22–4 record and won the Duneland Athletic Conference title.[1] He was named The Times of Northwest Indiana Player of the Year.[4] Stefanovic finished as the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,385 points.[1] A three-star recruit, he received scholarship offers from Loyola–Chicago, Northern Iowa, Valparaiso, Evansville, DePaul and Xavier and also was recruited by Purdue, though Matt Painter admitted the team did not have a scholarship and suggested he attend prep school. In February 2017, a scholarship became available after Basil Smotherman's departure, and Stefanovic committed to playing college basketball for Purdue.[5]

College career

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Stefanovic redshirted his true freshman season at Purdue.[1] He played sparingly as a redshirt freshman, averaging 2.5 points and 1.1 rebounds per game. He missed the opening game of his sophomore season against Green Bay due to a foot injury.[6] Stefanovic averaged 9.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game as a sophomore.[7] He tested positive for COVID-19 in January 2021, forcing him to miss three games.[8] As a junior, Stefanovic averaged 9.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.[9] He was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten as a senior.[10]

Professional career

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After going undrafted in the 2022 NBA draft, Stefanovic joined the San Antonio Spurs for the 2022 NBA Summer League.[11][12]

On August 19, 2022, Stefanovic signed his first professional contract overseas with Greek club Kolossos Rodou.

On November 17, 2022, he signed with Mega Basket of the ABA League.[13]

On March 26, 2023, Stefanovic announced his retirement from professional basketball on his personal Instagram account.

National team career

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Stefanovic was a part of the Purdue team chosen to represent the United States in the 2017 Summer Universiade in Taipai, Taiwan. The U.S. received a silver medal after losing in the title game to Lithuania, though Stefanovic sat out the game.[14]

In April 2022, Stefanovic expressed his interest to represent Serbia internationally in the senior competitions, if called.[15][16]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Purdue Redshirt Redshirt
2018–19 Purdue 36 0 11.6 .390 .410 .357 1.1 .4 .6 .1 2.5
2019–20 Purdue 30 22 26.4 .385 .383 .816 2.4 1.7 1.0 .3 9.1
2020–21 Purdue 25 21 29.4 .416 .400 .842 2.6 2.6 .7 .2 9.3
2021–22 Purdue 37 37 30.4 .392 .380 .867 2.5 3.0 .4 .2 10.4
Career 128 80 24.0 .395 .388 .810 2.1 1.9 .6 .2 7.7

Personal life

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His great-grandfather Branko was a native of Serbia who fought in World War II before emigrating to Gary, Indiana to find work in the steel mills. His mother is of ethnic Macedonian descent. Stefanovic's grandfather Zoran received a visa to the United States in 1970 and brought Stefanovic's father, Ljubiša "Lou", with him as a young child. Ljubiša Stefanović played college basketball at Illinois State and was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1985 NBA draft before playing professionally in Europe for five years.[17] Sasha has an older brother, Dejan.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Dopirak, Dustin (October 26, 2018). "Better for it: After redshirt year, Stefanovic, Wheeler ready to make impact at Purdue". The Athletic. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  2. ^ Hutton, Mike (April 3, 2016). "Fab Five". Chicago Tribune. p. 2. Retrieved December 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Hutton, Mike (March 5, 2016). "Sasha Stefanovic's clutch 3-pointer helps Crown Point edge Valparaiso". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  4. ^ Oren, Paul (August 10, 2021). "Purdue sharpshooter Sasha Stefanovic hosts clinic at Crown Point". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  5. ^ Neubert, Brian (February 3, 2017). "New Purdue commitment bet on himself, and won". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  6. ^ Carmin, Mike (November 6, 2019). "Foot injury sidelines Purdue basketball's Sasha Stefanovic for opener". Journal & Courier. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  7. ^ Bartley, Casey (September 16, 2020). "55 Days to Purdue Basketball: Sasha Stefanovic". Hammer and Rails. SB Nation. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  8. ^ Carmin, Mike (January 22, 2021). "Purdue's Stefanovic tests positive for COVID-19; will miss at least three games". Journal & Courier. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  9. ^ Womack, Keenan (November 4, 2021). "College Basketball: Top 25, no. 10 through no. 6". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  10. ^ "2021-22 Big Ten Men's Basketball Postseason Honors Announced" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. March 8, 2022. Archived from the original on March 8, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  11. ^ "JOŠ DVA SRBINA U NBA LIGI: Naši košarkaši osvajaju svet". novosti.rs. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  12. ^ "San Antonio Spurs 2022 NBA2K23 Summer League Roster". nba.com. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  13. ^ Skerletic, Dario (November 17, 2022). "KK Mega inks Sasha Stefanovic". Sportando. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  14. ^ Baird, Nathan (August 29, 2017). "What we learned from Purdue basketball's World University Games run". Journal & Courier. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  15. ^ "ZVAO ME ŽELJKO, A TATA MI IGRAO U ZVEZDI: Ko je "srpski Amerikanac" za koga se raspituje Partizan, ali i selektor Pešić!". mondo.rs. 21 April 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  16. ^ "Naš čovek iz SAD na vezi sa KSS: Stefanović izučava srpsku košarku i nada se pozivu Karija Pešića i NBA ligi". mozzartsport.com. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  17. ^ "LJubiša Stefanović, prvi draftovani igrač iz SFRJ: Sin Saša će se odužiti Srbiji". novosti.rs. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
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