Jurica Žuža (born April 4, 1978) is a Croatian basketball coach and former basketball player serving as assistant coach for

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 ...

of 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 ...

Professional career

Žuža started his professional career at

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

under coach

Danijel Jusup Danijel Jusup (born 8 September 1961) is a Croatian professional basketball coach who is the head coach for Zadar of the ABA League and the Croatian League. Coaching career Jusup started his sporting career with Zadar, first as a player, later ...

. After two years spent in the club and winning the 1998

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup * Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup *Croatian Minute Movie Cup ...

(first trophy for Zadar in independent

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

), he played in Svjetlost Brod and then again in Zadar winning another Cup in 2000. After spending a season in Šanac Karlovac Žuža moved abroad to the Greek

Iraklio Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban Ar ...

. After that he spent a season in

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 ...

coached by

Željko Obradović Želimir "Željko" Obradović ( sr-cyr, Желимир "Жељко" Обрадовић, ; born 9 March 1960) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach for KK Partizan, Partizan of the ABA League, ...

during which he won the Greek League and

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

. He later spent a season in the Greek Ionikos and Italian

Crabs Rimini Rinascita Basket Rimini (RBR), formerly known as Basket Rimini and Basket Rimini Crabs, is an Italian basketball team based in Rimini, Emilia-Romagna. From the 1978–79 to the 2010–11 season, the team continuously played in professional basket ...

before playing two and a half seasons for

Cibona Košarkaški klub Cibona, commonly referred to as Cibona Zagreb or simply Cibona, is a men's professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Association, and competes ...

during which he became the Croatian League champion twice. After playing for the Greek

Rethymno Rethymno ( el, Ρέθυμνο, , also ''Rethimno'', ''Rethymnon'', ''Réthymnon'', and ''Rhíthymnos'') is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 30,000 inhabitants ( ...

, Croatian

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 ...

, Polish Poltava and Ukrainian Kryvbasbasket, during the 2010–11 season Žuža shortly again played for

. Then he went to the Turkish

Tofaş Tofaş (acronym for ''Türk Otomobil Fabrikası Anonim Şirketi''; ''Turkish Automobile Factory Joint-Stock Company'' pronounced ) is a Turkish automobile manufacturer which was established in 1968 by Vehbi Koç, who was the founder of Koç Hold ...

from

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...

and then to

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

, with whom he won the Turkish Second League. From there Žuža went to the Qatari Al Rayan, and in 2014 he made his final transfer to Lietkabelis where he played the last two seasons of his professional career. In the last season of his 20-year professional playing career Žuža helped his club win third place in the 2015–16 Baltic League.

Coaching career

He began his coaching career as assistant coach for Lietkabelis, the same club he finished his playing career. Lietkabelis achieved its best result in history, finishing as runners-up in the 2016–17 Lithuanian League. The next season he was assistant coach for Neptūnas who came third in the 2017–18 Lithuanian League. On July 20, 2022, he signed with

of the

References

External links

Euroleague Profile

RealGM Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuza, Jaurica 1978 births Living people ABA League players BC Lietkabelis coaches BC Lietkabelis players Croatian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Lithuania Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Croatian men's basketball players Centers (basketball) Ionikos N.F. B.C. players Irakleio B.C. players KK Cedevita players KK Cibona players KK Zadar players Panathinaikos B.C. players Rethymno B.C. players Basketball players from Zadar Tofaş S.K. players Trabzonspor B.K. players