Aleksandar Ćapin (born October 6, 1982) is a Serbian former professional

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.

Early life

Growing up in Sarajevo, Ćapin took up

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

in the FK Sarajevo youth system. In spring 1992, with the outbreak of the Bosnian War, he fled his hometown by being sent to Belgrade along with his sister while their parents joined them several months later. In Belgrade, young Ćapin continued pursuing football within the FK Rad youth system. In 1993, disappointed with being demoted to FK Rad's second team, the youngster switched to basketball by starting to attend

KK Partizan Košarkaški klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Партизан, English: Partizan Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Partizan or simply Partizan, is a professional basketball team based in Belgrade, Serbia. It is ...

-organized training sessions administered by the youth coach Dragiša Stamenković at the France Prešern Elementary School in the Belgrade neighbourhood of

Miljakovac Miljakovac ( sr, Миљаковац), () is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Rakovica. Location Miljakovac is located on the northern outskirts of the Miljakovac Forest (' ...

. Deemed talented enough, Ćapin was attached to KK Partizan's youth system where he was coached by Stamenković for a few seasons before progressing up the age groups within the system and being coached by

Igor Kokoškov Igor Stefan Kokoškov ( sr-Cyrl, Игор Стефан Кокошков; born December 17, 1971) is a Serbian professional basketball coach who is an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He had spen ...

, Milovan "Kime" Bogojević, Aleksandar Bućan, and

Nenad Trajković Nenad Trajković ( sr-cyr, Ненад Трајковић; born Naser Trajković; 10 February 1961), is a Serbian basketball coach. Early life Naser Trajković ( sr-cyr, Насер Трајковић) was born in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yu ...

. Among the fellow prospects Ćapin shared rosters with at Partizan youth system were Marko Peković,

Vule Avdalović Vule Avdalović ( sr-cyr, Вуле Авдаловић; born 24 November 1981) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently works as the head coach for OKK Beograd. National team career As a member of the FR Yugosla ...

Aleksandar Gajić Aleksandar Gajić ( sr-cyr, Александар Гајић; born 14 January 1983) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. Professional career A point guard, Gajić played for Partizan, Crvena zvezda, Lukoil Academic, Sloga, Bos ...

, and Mirko Kovač.

Professional career

KK Krka

After playing in the juniors of

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

, Ćapin would end up starting his senior career with Krka in the 2000–01 season. He arrived at the club via attending a club-organized summer junior camp where Krka wanted to identify and potentially sign new payers. Though having another year left as a junior at KK Partizan, the 17-year-old was not keen on playing at KK Torlak, which the Partizan management signed a deal with regarding loaning out its juniors to, and decided to attend Krka's camp in Slovenia where he was offered a contract. Registered both with Krka's junior team and full squad, 18-year-old Ćapin mostly spent the season playing the Slovenian third-tier league with the club's juniors while also getting occasional minutes with the full squad under head coach

Aleš Pipan Aleš Pipan (born 24 May 1959) is a Slovenian basketball coach and former basketball player, who is currently coach of Šentjur in the Liga Nova KBM. Coaching career Pipan coached Slovenia at the EuroBasket 2005, 2006 FIBA World Championship ...

that played the Slovenian League and

FIBA SuproLeague The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

though Capin was ineligible for the domestic league due to administrative issues. In his debut season as a professional, Ćapin saw some playing time in SuproLeague as the third option at the point-guard position behind

Simon Petrov Simon Petrov (born 27 January 1976) is a Slovenian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as the head coach for Oroszlány SE Lions of the Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A, the top flight in Hungary Hungary ( hu, M ...

and

Dražen Anzulović Dražen Anzulović (born 7 May 1967) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as a head coach for BC Enisey of the VTB United League. Playing career Anzulović spent most of his playing career in Cibona. ...

on a squad that also featured shooting guard / small forward Saša Dončić, center Bennett Davison, veteran center

Franjo Arapović Franjo Arapović (born 2 June 1965) is a Croatian former professional basketball player who played as a center. A tall, he won the silver medal with the Croatia national team at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Four years earlier he was a member of th ...

, and power forward Dragiša Drobnjak. After three years in Slovenia, Ćapin played for the German team Telekom Bonn in the 2003–04 season. Between 2004 and 2008, Ćapin played for Gravelines-Dunkerque in France, for Panellinios and

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

in Greece, and for

Viola Reggio Calabria Viola Reggio Calabria was an Italian professional basketball club based in Reggio Calabria, Calabria. At its heyday the club was renowned for discovering talented players who would go on to play at the highest level, for example five former pla ...

and Cimberio Varese in Italy. In the summer of 2008, Ćapin signed a one-year contract with Azovmash from Ukraine. However, he got injured during a preseason game in September 2008, and he was released from the club without making a competitive debut. In February 2009, he signed for the Russian team

Lokomotiv Rostov PBC Lokomotiv Kuban (russian: ПБК «Локомотив Кубань») is a Russian professional basketball team based in Krasnodar. The club participates in the VTB United League. The team is one of the top tier basketball teams in Russia. T ...

, and he also stayed with the club after their relocating to

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southe ...

. After spending a year in Russia, Ćapin moved to Lithuania and signed with Žalgiris in January 2010. Ćapin returned to Slovenia in the 2011–12 season and played for

Union Olimpija Košarkarski klub Olimpija ( en, Olimpija Basketball Club) was a men's professional basketball club based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Olimpija has won 23 National League championships, including eight consecutive titles between 1992 and 1999. They ...

. In December 2011, Ćapin moved to Turkey and joined

Türk Telekom Türk Telekom is a state-owned Turkish telecommunications company. Türk Telekom was separated from Turkish Post (PTT) in 1995. Türk Telekom Group provides integrated telecommunication services for PSTN, GSM, and wide-band Internet. The Türk ...

. On October 10, 2012, Ćapin signed for the Serbian team Radnički Kragujevac. He showed great performances during the season and helped the team to reach the

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mac ...

Final four. Ćapin also led the league in scoring and assists, and he earned the Adriatic League MVP award. On August 9, 2013, Ćapin signed with Budućnost Podgorica. On December 10, 2014, he parted ways with Budućnost. Nine days later, he signed with

Juvecaserta Basket Sporting Club JuveCaserta (sometimes spelled Juve Caserta), also known as Decò Caserta after its title sponsor, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Caserta, Campania. The team currently plays in the Serie A2, the second tier of Ita ...

of Italy. On March 5, 2015, he left Caserta and signed with the Macedonian club MZT Skopje for the rest of the season. On August 12, 2015, he signed a one-year deal with Igokea. He debuted for the team in 67–56 loss to

Cedevita Cedevita d.o.o. is a Croatian company which produces a wide range of teas, instant drinks, and dietetic products. A notable owner of the company was the Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva d.d. Since 2001 Cedevita has been part of the Atlantic ...

in Round 1 of the

ABA League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mace ...

; he led his team with 15 points, 5 assists and 2 rebounds. On January 5, 2016, he parted ways with Igokea. On February 5, 2016, he signed with

Koroivos Koroivos ( el, Κόροιβος, before 1955: Κελεβή - ''Kelevi'') is a village in the municipal unit of Gastouni, Elis, Greece. It is situated in a flat rural area, south of the river Pineios. It is 2 km southeast of Lefkochori, 2 ...

for the rest of the

2015–16 Greek Basket League The 2015–16 Greek Basket League was the 76th season of the Greek Basket League, the top-tier professional basketball league in Greece. Teams Promotion and relegation *Panionios, Panelefsiniakos, and KAOD were relegated after the 2014–15 ...

season. On January 13, 2017, he signed with Slovenian club

Primorska The Slovene Littoral ( sl, Primorska, ; it, Litorale; german: Küstenland) is one of the five traditional regions of Slovenia. Its name recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg possessions on the upper Ad ...

for the rest of the season. On August 15, 2017, he signed with Serbian club Dynamic Belgrade. On December 30, 2017, he parted ways with Dynamic.

National team career

Ćapin played with the senior

Slovenian national team Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia * Sl ...

at the

2005 EuroBasket The 2005 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2005, was the 34th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. It also served as Europe qualifier for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, giving a berth ...

and the

2007 EuroBasket The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2008 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to th ...

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2001–02 , style="text-align:left;", Krka , 12 , , 1 , , 9.3 , , .500 , , .111 , , .500 , , 0.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 1.9 , , 1.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 7 , , 0 , , 18.9 , , .283 , , .240 , , .692 , , 3.3 , , 2.4 , , 0.6 , , 0.0 , , 6.4 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 5 , , 1 , , 8.6 , , .545 , , .500 , , .1000 , , 1.8 , , 1.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 3.4 , , 5.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;",

, 8 , , 7 , , 23.0 , , .360 , , .321 , , .857 , , 1.0 , , 2.9 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 7.1 , , 7.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 32 , , 9 , , 14.7 , , .365 , , .266 , , .771 , , 1.4 , , 1.7 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 4.4 , , 13.1