Ajdin Penava (born March 11, 1997) is a Bosnian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for

Spójnia Stargard Spójnia Stargard, also known as shortly Spójnia, is a professional Polish basketball team based in Stargard, Poland, currently playing in the Polish Basketball League (PLK), the highest tier in Polish basketball. In 2018, they gained promotion f ...

of the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English: Polish Basketball League) is a professional men's club basketball league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier level of the Polish league pyramid. The winning team of the final round are crow ...

(PLK). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: ...

in the Conference USA (C-USA). He led NCAA Division I in blocks per game (3.94) in 2017–18.

Early life

Penava attended Peta Gimnazija in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

College career

Penava was a reserve player during his first two seasons with the Herd. He had his breakout season as a junior when he became a full-time starter. One of his best games came against the

Ohio Bobcats The Ohio Bobcats are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio University, located in Athens, Ohio, United States. Ohio University is a charter member (1946) of the Mid-Ame ...

where he had 33 points, 15 rebounds, and 9 blocks in a 99–96 win. He would later help lead Marshall to an upset win against Wichita State in the 2018 NCAA tournament scoring 16 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, and blocking 3 shots. Penava led the nation in blocks during 2017–18 season and decided to declare for the 2018 NBA draft at season's end. He initially did not sign with an agent, but decided to do so on April 19. He did not return to Marshall for his senior season. , - , align="left" , 2015–16 , align="left" ,

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

, 18 , , 1 , , 6.1 , , .387 , , .143 , , .692 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 0.4 , , 1.9 , - , align="left" , 2016–17 , align="left" ,

, 35 , , 14 , , 15.5 , , .517 , , .225 , , .781 , , 3.9 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 1.0 , , 6.1 , - , align="left" , 2017–18 , align="left" ,

, 34 , , 34 , , 29.4 , , .562 , , .340 , , .753 , , 8.5 , , 1.9 , , 0.9 , , 4.9 , , 15.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 87 , , 49 , , 19.0 , , .538 , , .291 , , .758 , , 5.1 , , 1.0 , , 0.6 , , 2.1 , , 9.0

Professional career

On September 2, 2018, Penava signed a four-year deal with Kirolbet Baskonia of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. On February 26, 2019, Penava joined to the Baskonia

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

. On July 6, 2020, Penava signed with

Belfius Mons-Hainaut Belfius Mons-Hainaut is a Belgian professional basketball club that is based in Mons, Wallonia. The club competes in the highest division of the country, the BNXT League. The club's home arena is the Mons Arena. Founded as Quaregnon in 1959, the ...

of the

Pro Basketball League The Pro Basketball League (PBL), was the highest tier level professional basketball league in Belgium for sports clubs, clubs. In 2021, the league was succeeded by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT League. Through 2014, for sponsorship reasons, the league ...

. In July 2021, Penava extended his contract with two more years until 2023. On December 27, 2022, he signed with

of the

(PLK).

National team career

Penava played for the Bosnian national team during the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. Penava averaged 5.6 ppg and 4.8 rpg during the tournament.

References

External links

Marshall profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penava, Ajdin 1997 births Living people Basketball players from Sarajevo Belfius Mons-Hainaut players Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate basketball people in Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate basketball people in Spain Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate basketball people in the United States Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Poland Bosnia and Herzegovina men's basketball players Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball players Power forwards (basketball) Saski Baskonia players Spójnia Stargard players