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 () is a Russian professional basketball team based in Krasnodar. It participates in the VTB United League. Their honour list includes a EuroCup Basketball, EuroCup championship in the 2012–13 season, and two Russian Basketb ...

of the

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

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 city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

under coach

Danijel Jusup Danijel Jusup (born 8 September 1961) is a Croatian professional basketball coach who is the head coach for KK Zadar, Zadar of the ABA League and the HT Premijer liga, Croatian League. Coaching career Jusup started his sporting career with KK Z ...

. 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 The Croatian Water Polo C ...

(first trophy for Zadar in independent

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

), 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 Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

. After that he spent a season in

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...

coached by

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

during which he won the Greek League and

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

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

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

Rethymno Rethymno (also Rethymnon; ) 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 35,000 inhabitants (nearly 40,000 for the municipal unit). It is believed to have been built ...

, 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 Atlan ...

, Polish Poltava and Ukrainian

Kryvbasbasket BC Kryvbas (), is a professional basketball club based in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. Achievements of the team were winning the Ukrainian Basketball League in 2009, and winning the Higher League in 2003 and 2004. Kryvbas withdrew from the 2016–17 Uk ...

, during the 2010–11 season Žuža shortly again played for

. Then he went to the Turkish

Tofaş TOFAŞ Türk Otomobil Fabrikası A.Ş (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, ...

from

Bursa Bursa () 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 Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

and then to

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

, 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 BC Lietkabelis (), commonly known as Lietkabelis Panevėžys, also known as 7bet-Lietkabelis for sponsorship reasons, is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Panevėžys, Lithuania, participating in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, Lit ...

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

, 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