Dragan Bajić ( sr-Cyrl, Драган Бајић; born 24 May 1973) is a Bosnian 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 ...

coach and former player. He currently serves as the head coach for Igokea 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 ...

and for the North Macedonia national team. Also, he was a professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player.

Early life

Bajić was born in

Bludenz Bludenz (; Alemannic: ''Bludaz'') is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. It is the administrative seat of the Bludenz District, which encompasses about half of the Vorarlberg's territory. Geography The town is located on the Il ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, in a

Bosnian Serb The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...

family.

Playing career

Basketball

Bajić played for Igokea Aleksandrovac during his playing career. In the 2000–01 season, he won the Bosnian League with them. He was a team member during the

2001–02 FIBA Saporta Cup The 2001–02 FIBA Saporta Cup was the thirty-sixth edition of FIBA Europe, FIBA's European professional club basketball system, 2nd-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition. It was the last edition of the tournament. It t ...

and the

2002–03 FIBA Europe Regional Challenge Cup The 2002–03 FIBA Europe Regional Challenge Cup was the one-season international European competition for men's professional basketball clubs, organised by FIBA. At the time it was 4th-tier level competition, after the Euroleague, ULEB Cup an ...

Football

Bajić played professional

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Sloga Trn of the Republika Srpska First League.

Coaching career

In 2009, Bajić started his coaching career at Igokea as the first-team head coach. Later he was an assistant coach of Igokea to the head coach Drago Karalić. In 2014, Bajić became the head coach of Bosnia and Herzegovina national under-18 team. He led the team to 12th place at the 2014 Europe U-18 Championship. From January to December 2015, he coached Cherno More Port Varna of the Bulgarian League. At the end of December 2015, he came back to Igokea where he became the head coach. He made interesting results in

and Bosnian League. He won three Bosnian League championships with Igokea so far. On 2 April 2018, Igokea fired Bajić after the team posted a 7–15 record at the end of the 2017–18 ABA season. On 30 October 2019, Igokea was hired Bajić as the new head coach. On 9 June 2020, Bajić signed a three-year contract extension for Igokea.

National teams

In April 2021, the

Basketball Federation of North Macedonia The Basketball Federation of North Macedonia ( Macedonian: ''Кошаркарска федерација на Северна Македонија'' / ''Košarkarska federacija na Severna Makedonija'') is the governing body of basketball in North ...

hired Bajić as the new head coach of the North Macedonia national team. In July 2022, he parted ways with the national team.

Career achievements and awards

;As player * Bosnian League champion: 1 (with Igokea: 2000–01) *

First League of Republika Srpska The First League of the Republika Srpska ( sh, Prva liga Republike Srpske / ) is a second level Association football, football competition in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The league champion is promoted to the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina ...

champion: 2 (with Igokea: 1999–00, 2000–01) ;As head coach * Bosnian League champion: 4 (with Igokea:

2012–13 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 ...

, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2021–22) *

Bosnian Cup The Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kup Bosne i Hercegovine, Куп Босне и Херцеговине) is a knock-out football competition contested annually by clubs from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The winner ...

winner: 6 (with Igokea: 2012–13, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2020–21, 2021–22) *

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup ( bg, Купа на България, Kupa na Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament ...

winner: 1 (with Cherno More:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

) ;Individual * Adriatic League Coach of the Season –

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, 2021

References

External links

Dragan Bajić
at aba-liga.com
Dragan Bajic, coach
at

eurobasket.com Eurobasket.com also commonly referred to as "Eurobasket News", is a basketball-centered website that provide coverages of every professional and semi-professional leagues around the world. Although primarily focusing on European basketball, th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bajic, Dragan 1973 births Living people People from Bludenz Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to Austria Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina men's basketball players Guards (basketball) KK Igokea players Bosnia and Herzegovina basketball coaches KK Igokea coaches Association football forwards Bosnia and Herzegovina footballers First League of the Republika Srpska players