Andrej Jakimovski (born 18 March 2001) is a Macedonian

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 ...

player for the

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of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

. He previously played for the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic program co ...

. Listed at and , he plays the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

position.

Early career

Jakimovski played for Basket Torino of the Italian

Serie A2 Basket Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian league pyramid, below the first division LBA and above the third division Serie B, with pro ...

during the 2019–20 season. He saw little playing time for Torino. In the Italian NextGen Under-19 competition, he averaged 28 points, 14 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3 steals per game. On 21 June 2020, Jakimovski committed to playing

for the

. He had several offers from European professional teams but decided to come to America to play collegiately. According to Washington State coach Kyle Smith, the Cougars had been recruiting him for over a year. Jakimovski was also recruited by

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

and

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

. He was regarded as a four-star prospect by

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and is Washington State's fourth-highest rated recruit after

Klay Thompson Klay Alexander Thompson (born February 8, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A four-time NBA champion with the Warriors, he is a five-time NBA All-Star ...

, Mouhamed Gueye, and Michael Harthun.

College career

As a freshman, Jakimovski averaged 5.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. After the season, he announced he was entering the transfer portal. Jakimovski initially committed to Loyola (Maryland), but ultimately opted to return to Washington State. As a sophomore, he averaged 5.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Jakimovski averaged 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game as a junior. Jakimovski entered the transfer portal at the end of the 2023–23 season, and committed to

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

on 21 April 2024.

National team career

Jakimovski made three appearances for the Macedonian junior national teams at the

FIBA 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 na ...

U16 and U18 European Championships. He led the FIBA U18 European Championship B in scoring with 18.4 points per game to go with 9.4 rebounds per game, leading the team to a fourth-place finish. In February 2020, Jakimovski made his debut for the senior national team during the FIBA European qualifying tournament.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;",

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, style="text-align:left;",

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

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References

External links

Washington State Cougars bioFIBA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jakimovski, Andrej 2001 births Living people Basketball players from Skopje Basket Torino players Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Macedonian men's basketball players Small forwards Washington State Cougars men's basketball players