Ljubomir "Ljuba" Katić ( sr-cyr, Љубомир "Љуба" Катић; born 25 April 1934) is a Serbian former

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 and coach. He represented the Yugoslavia national basketball team internationally.

Playing career

Katić started his basketball career with Partizan Zrenjanin. Later, he moved to another Zrenjanin-based team Radnički Kristal. In autumn 1952, Katić joined

Proleter Zrenjanin Fudbalski klub Proleter Zrenjanin () is a football club from the city of Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, Serbia. History Early period Soon after World War II, the club almost achieved promotion to the Yugoslav Second League after finishing top of the ...

. On 22 May 1953, he made his professional debut for Proleter in a 54–52 loss to Crvena zvezda. During his first stint with Proleter he won the Yugoslav Championship in the 1956 season. Katić was a part of the group of players known as the Proleter's Five, which included himself, Milutin Minja,

Lajos Engler Lajos "Lala" Engler ( sr-cyr, Лајош "Лала" Енглер; 20 June 1928 – 1 May 2020), also credited as Lajoš Engler, was an ethnic Hungarian teacher and basketball player, who represented the Yugoslavia national basketball team interna ...

, Dušan Radojčić, and Vilmos Lóczi. During the 1958 season, Katić played for Crvena zvezda from

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

. He moved to the Zvezda together with Minja. After one season in Belgrade, he moved back to Zrenjanin. During his second stint with Proleter, he was a player-coach together with Lóczi. Katić played for Proleter until 1964 when he moved to Split, SR Croatia, with his family. There he joined Split, a team coached by Branko Radović, his teammate in the Zvezda. On 26 April 1964, Katić he made his debut for Split in a 65–63 loss to

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 ...

. Split debuted in the Yugoslav First Federal League in that season.

National team career

Katić was a member of the Yugoslavia national team that participated at the 1955 European Championships in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary. Over five tournament games, he averaged 2.0 points per game. Also, he was a member of the national team that participated at the 1957 European Championships in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, Bulgaria. Over nine tournament games, he averaged 4.4 points per game. Katić played 29 games for the national team and averaged 3.4 points per game.

Coaching career

Katić started his coaching career during the second playing stint with

when he was a player-coach. After retirement from playing career, he was just a coach. In 1975, Katić became the head coach for Čelik Zenica. Four years later, he left Čelik.

Career achievements and awards

* Yugoslav League champion: 1 (with

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

). * Plaque of the Basketball Federation of Serbia (2016)

In popular culture

* The 2016 Serbian documentary, ''Šampioni iz pedeset i šeste'' (), portrays Katić and the achievements of the Proleter basketball team in the mid 1950s and how they won the Yugoslav Championship in 1956.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katic, Ljubomir 1934 births Living people Centers (basketball) KK Crvena zvezda players KK Proleter Zrenjanin coaches KK Proleter Zrenjanin players KK Split players Power forwards (basketball) Serbian expatriate basketball people in Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbian expatriate basketball people in Croatia Serbian men's basketball coaches Serbian men's basketball players Sportspeople from Zrenjanin Yugoslav basketball coaches Yugoslav men's basketball players