Aleksandar "Aleks" Marić (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Александар "Алекс“ Марић, born 22 October 1984) is an Australian-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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. Marić gained a reputation as a winner over the course of his successful European career, securing contracts with several basketball powerhouse outfits. Rising to stardom at

Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, link ...

in 2010, he was part of a Serbian Cup and Adriatic League championship winning team, as well as an

All-EuroLeague First Team The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honor ...

member. That breakout season earned him selection to the Australian national team for the 2010 World Championships and the 2012 London Olympics. In 2019, he became an assistant coach with the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...

Early life and career

Marić began playing basketball as a youth in Sydney before attending the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

. He played high school basketball in the United States at

Life Center Academy Life Center Academy is a private school located in Burlington in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school is associated with the Fountain of Life Center, an Assemblies of God church. The Headmaster is Matthew Boudwin, who ...

Burlington, New Jersey Burlington is a city in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,743. Burlington was first incorporated on October 24, 1693, and was r ...

. He then 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 ...

at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

with the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

from 2004 to 2008, where he was named second-team All-

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 ...

in both 2007 and 2008.

College statistics

Professional career

Marić began his professional career in July 2008 with the

Spanish ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

club

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

. At the end of the season, on 30 June 2009, he exercised the option in his contract and decided to leave the club. On 7 July 2009, Marić signed multi-year deal with the Serbian club

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 ...

. During his first season in Partizan, Marić went from the status of a relatively unknown basketball player to one of a EuroLeague star, all thanks to his great games throughout the season. In 93–92 win over Efes Pilsen in the EuroLeague, he scored 34 points, pulled 16 rebounds and had 49 performance index rating which was record of the season, along with

Darjuš Lavrinovič Darjuš Lavrinovič ( pl, Dariusz Ławrynowicz, born 1 November 1979) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for the BC Vytis of the National Basketball League. He is 2.12m (6' 11½") in height. He plays the center position. He is also a ...

who also had 49 in the same season. That made them 8th overall in PIR since the beginning of the

2000–01 Euroleague The 2000–01 Euroleague was the inaugural basketball season of the EuroLeague, under the newly formed Euroleague Basketball Company's authority, and it was the 44th season of the premier competition for European men's professional basketball cl ...

season. He was named to the 2009–10

All-EuroLeague Team The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honor ...

. With Partizan, he managed to win the Serbian national cup trophy (the

Radivoj Korać Cup The Radivoj Korać Cup ( sr, Куп Радивоја Кораћа / Kup Radivoja Koraća) is the men's national basketball cup of Serbia. It is run by the Basketball Federation of Serbia and is named after a Serbian basketball legend and FIBA Hal ...

), as well as the Adriatic Championship in the amazing overtime finish. On 30 July 2010, Marić signed a two-year contract with the Greek club

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

. In his first season with the club, he won the EuroLeague title in win over the

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

. Later, he won and the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

championship. In his second season, he won the Greek basketball cup. On 27 July 2012, Marić signed with the

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus an ...

club Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar. On 2 September 2014, Marić signed with

. On 25 December 2014, he was waived by Maccabi. The next day, he signed with the Turkish team

Galatasaray Liv Hospital Galatasaray S.K., is a professional basketball team based in the city of Istanbul in Turkey. It is a part of the Galatasaray Sports Club. The team competes in the Turkish Basketball Super League and Basketball Champions League. The team has won 1 ...

. On 3 March 2015, he left Galatasaray and signed with

Petrochimi Bandar Imam Petrochimi Bandar Imam Basketball Club ( fa, تیم بسكتبال پتروشیمی بندر امام, ''Tim-e Beskâtbal-e Petrushimi-ye Bendâr Eman''), also known as shortly Petrochimi, is an Iranian professional basketball club based in Mahshah ...

of the Iranian Super League. On 29 April 2015, he left Petrochimi and signed with the Spanish club

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...

for the rest of the

2014–15 ACB season The 2014–15 ACB season was the 32nd season of the Spanish basketball league, also called Liga Endesa in its sponsored identity. The regular season started on 4 October 2014 and finished on 24 May 2015. The playoffs, joined by the eight first qua ...

. On 3 September 2015, Marić signed with the Montenegrin club

Budućnost Podgorica Budućnost means "the future" in many Slavic languages, and it may also refer to: *SD Budućnost Podgorica, a sports society from Podgorica, Montenegro ** KK Budućnost Podgorica, a professional basketball club FK Budućnost may refer to: * FK Bud ...

for the 2015–16 season. After some miserable showings in the first few games 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 to an 80–61 win over Tajfun with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and was subsequently named the MVP of Round 5. On 4 April 2016, he left Budućnost and signed with Spanish club Rio Natura Monbus Obradoiro for the rest of the

2015–16 ACB season The 2015–16 ACB season was the 33rd season of the Spanish basketball league, also called Liga ACB, Liga Endesa in its sponsored identity. The regular season started on October 10, 2015, and ended on May 22, 2016. The playoffs was played from May ...

. On 29 June 2016, Marić signed a one-year deal (with a team option for a second year) with his hometown

of the National Basketball League. On 9 March 2017, Marić signed with Rio Natura Monbus Obradoiro for the rest of the

2016–17 ACB season The 2016–17 ACB season, also known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, was the 34th season of the Spanish basketball league. It started on 30 September 2016 with the first round of the regular season and ended on 16 June 2017 with the ACB Fi ...

. On 26 June 2017, Marić signed with

Al-Muharraq Muharraq ( ar, المحرق, al-Muḥarraq) is Bahrain's third largest city and served as its capital until 1932 when it was replaced by Manama. The population of Muharraq in 2012 was 176,583. The city is located on Muharraq Island. Bahrain Int ...

of the

Bahraini Premier League The Bahraini Premier League is the main football competition in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Currently known as the Nasser bin Hamad Premier League, the first season was held in 1957. The winners of the domestic championship qualify for the AFC Cup ...

. He played one game for the team.

Australian national team

With the Australian junior national team, Marić won the gold medal at the 2003

FIBA Under-19 World Championship The FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup (formerly FIBA Under-19 World Championship) is the under-19 men's world basketball championship organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). From its inauguration in 1979, until 2007, it was ...

. He also played at the 2005

FIBA Under-21 World Championship The FIBA Under-21 World Championship was a men's under-21-only basketball competition organized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). It was known as the FIBA 22 & Under World Championship before FIBA lowered the age limit to 21 year ...

with Australia's junior national team. Media reports emanating from Serbia stated Maric had expressed a desire to play for the senior

Serbia national basketball team Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

, however this was later denied by Maric. Marić played for the senior Australia national basketball team at the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

in Turkey. Marić averaged 9.2 points and 4.3 rebounds over 6 games at the tournament. He also played with Australia at the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London where Australia lost 119–86 in quarterfinal matchup with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Post-playing career

In July 2019, Marić was appointed an assistant coach by the

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;",

, 18 , , 9 , , 25.5 , , .607 , , .000 , , .648 , , 8.4 , , 1.2 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , 14.6 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 21.1 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;",

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. I ...

† , style="text-align:left;",

, 8 , , 0 , , 7.6 , , .556 , , .000 , , .667 , , 3.5 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , .4 , , 3.5 , , 6.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 22 , , 9 , , 7.1 , , .673 , , .000 , , .560 , , 2.5 , , .1 , , .5 , , .1 , , 3.6 , , 4.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;",

Lokomotiv Kuban 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 ...

, 23 , , 10 , , 17.2 , , .602 , , .000 , , .588 , , 3.6 , , 1.0 , , .8 , , .6 , , 6.1 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;", Maccabi , 8 , , 2 , , 8.8 , , .571 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 2.3 , , .5 , , .1 , , .4 , , 2.3 , , 3.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

, 7 , , 2 , , 10.0 , , .385 , , .000 , , .500 , , 2.9 , , .7 , , .1 , , .0 , , 1.7 , , 2.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 86 , , 32 , , 14.1 , , .603 , , .000 , , .625 , , 4.1 , , .7 , , .7 , , .4 , , 6.3 , , 9.0

Personal life

Marić was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, to

ethnic Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

parents from

Knin Knin (, sr, link=no, Книн, it, link=no, Tenin) is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagr ...

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Social ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

. He subsequently has Serbian citizenship. His grandfather Steve was killed at his home during

Operation Storm }) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory for the Croatian Army (HV), which attacked across a front against the self-declared proto-state R ...

and his body was exhumed from a

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution, although an exact ...

17 years later.

References

External links