Nikola Jovanović ( sr-cyr, Никола Јовановић, born January 6, 1994) is a Serbian 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 for Oostende of the

BNXT League The BNXT League, for sponsorship reasons the betFirst BNXT League, is a professional basketball league in Belgium and the Netherlands. The league is the first tier in both the Dutch and Belgian system, replacing the Dutch Basketball League, DBL a ...

. He played college basketball for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

Early life

Growing up in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

, Jovanović played basketball for the junior cadet teams of

KK Crvena zvezda Košarkaški klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Црвена звезда, ), commonly referred to as KK Crvena zvezda mts for sponsorship reasons or simply Crvena zvezda, is a men's professional basketball Sports club, ...

(2010–11) and

KK Partizan Košarkaški klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Партизан, English: Partizan Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Partizan or simply Partizan, is a professional basketball team based in Belgrade, Serbia. It is ...

(2011–12). After moving to the United States in 2012, he enrolled at

Arlington Country Day School Arlington Country Day School (ACDS) was a private school in Jacksonville, Florida. A non-sectarian coeducational school, it offered a K-12 education and enrolled over 400 students a year. It was notable for its successful boys' basketball program. ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. In 2012–13, he averaged 15 points and 12 rebounds while leading the Apaches to a 30–4 record and a No. 2 ranking in the state of Florida. He was ranked at the No. 20 prospect in the state of Florida by Florida Hoops.

College career

Freshman year

As a freshman at

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

in 2013–14, Jovanović averaged 8.0 points and 4.4 rebounds while making 24 starts and appearing in all 32 games. He made 76.1 percent of his free throws, which was eighth-best all-time by a Trojan freshman, and hit 51.6 percent of his field goals, which were 10th best by a USC freshman all-time. He scored a season-high 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting against California on January 22, 2014. He was bestowed the Harold Jones Award at the team banquet following the season as the team's Most Improved Player.

Sophomore year

As a sophomore in 2014–15, Jovanović showed improvement in almost every area, leading the team with an average of 7.0 rebounds per game and finishing second in scoring with a 12.3 average. He started 31 of USC's 32 games and played in each contest. On January 29, 2015, he scored a career-high 30 points in USC's triple-overtime 98–94 loss to Colorado. He earned the Bob Boyd Award as the team's top rebounder, given out at the USC Men's Basketball Awards Banquet following the season.

Junior year

As a junior in 2015–16, Jovanović averaged 12.1 points and 7.0 rebounds for a Trojans team that had a better-than-expected season and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament. On January 30, 2016, he scored a season-high 28 points against Washington. On February 28, he became the 36th Trojan to score 1,000 points or more in his USC men's basketball career. He earned the Bob Boyd Award as the team's top rebounder for the second consecutive year. On April 14, 2016, Jovanović declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final year of college eligibility.

Professional career

NBA Development League

After going undrafted in the 2016 NBA draft, Jovanović joined the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

for the

Orlando Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups ...

and the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

for the Las Vegas Summer League. On September 26, 2016, he signed with the Pistons, but was waived on October 17 after appearing in one preseason game. On October 30, he was acquired by the

Grand Rapids Drive The Grand Rapids Gold are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Denver Nuggets. The Gold play their home games at Van Andel Arena. They began play as the Anaheim ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

, an affiliate of the Pistons. On March 2, 2017, Jovanović was traded to the

Westchester Knicks The Westchester Knicks are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in White Plains, New York, and are affiliated with the New York Knicks. The Knicks typically play their home games at Westchester County Center in White ...

Crvena zvezda and loans

On July 29, 2017, Jovanović signed a three-year deal with Serbian club

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in B ...

. On August 13, 2018, Jovanović moved on loan to the Italian club

Aquila Basket Trento Aquila Basket Trento, also known for sponsorship reasons as Dolomiti Energia Trento, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Trento, Trent, Trentino. It was founded in 1995 as an amalgamation of two local clubs, going from the amateur ...

for the 2018–19 season. After the year-long loan in Italy, Jovanović signed a new contract with Zvezda on August 28, 2019. On August 6, 2020, Jovanović moved on loan to the Bosnian club Igokea for the 2020–21 season.

Nizhny Novgorod

On September 14, 2021, Jovanović signed a deal with Russian club

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

. He parted ways with Nizhny in December 2021.

Filou Oostende

On March 3, 2023, he signed with Oostende of the

Career statistics

Euroleague

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, 16 , , 0 , , 8.1 , , .543 , , .333 , , .333 , , 2.8 , , .2 , , .1 , , .2 , , 3.6 , , 4.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 16 , , 0 , , 8.1 , , .543 , , .333 , , .333 , , 2.8 , , .2 , , .1 , , .2 , , 3.6 , , 4.0

Personal life

Jovanović is the son of Ljubiša and Dragana Jovanović, and he has one sister, Tamara, who is a student-athlete at

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

. His father played professional basketball in Europe for 15 years (

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 ...

, Rabotnički, Soproni Ászok, etc.). Jovanović is fluent in Serbian, French and English.

References

External links

Nikola Jovanović
at usctrojans.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Jovanović, Nikola 1994 births Living people ABA League players Aquila Basket Trento players Basketball League of Serbia players Basketball players from Belgrade BC Nizhny Novgorod players BC Oostende players Centers (basketball) Grand Rapids Drive players KK Crvena zvezda players KK Igokea players Lega Basket Serie A players Power forwards (basketball) Serbian expatriate basketball people in Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbian expatriate basketball people in Italy Serbian expatriate basketball people in Russia Serbian expatriate basketball people in the United States Serbian men's basketball players USC Trojans men's basketball players Westchester Knicks players