Sani Bečirovič ( sh, Sani Bečirović, born 19 May 1981) is a Slovenian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach, executive and former player, who is currently a

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

for

Cedevita Olimpija Košarkarski klub Cedevita Olimpija ( en, Cedevita Olimpija Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Cedevita Olimpija or simply Olimpija, is a men's professional basketball club based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The club competes in the ABA Le ...

of the Slovenian League,

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 the EuroCup. He was selected in the second round (46th overall) of the

2003 NBA Draft The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates ...

by the Denver Nuggets, but never played in the NBA. His father is Memi Bečirović, the former

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the senior men's Slovenia national team.

Professional playing career

Bečirovič played with the Slovenian youth squad teams of KK Bistrica, and he made his debut with their senior team during the 1995–96 season. He then moved to the Slovenian club Maribor Ovni for the 1996–97 season. He then moved to the Slovenian Premiere A League team Pivovarna Laško, where he played from 1997 to 1999, and next to the Slovenian team Olimpija Ljubljana, where he played from 1999 to 1901. With Olimpija Ljubljana, he won the 2001 Slovenian League Championship, and the 2000 and 2001 Slovenian Cups. He also played in Slovenia with Krka Novo Mesto, in the 2003–04 season. He played in the Italian LBA league with

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

, during the 2001–02 season, where he won the 2002

Italian Cup Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

. He also played with the Italian clubs Casti Group Varese, in the 2004–05 season, and Climamio Bologna, in the 2005–06 season, where he won the 2005

Italian Super Cup The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

. Bečirović then moved to the Greek club

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 ...

, where he won the Euroleague 2006–07 championship, two Greek Cups (2007, 2008), and two Greek League championships (2007, 2008). He signed with the Italian club AJ Milano on 15 January 2010. In October 2010, he signed a two-year contract with the

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities an ...

club

Türk Telekom Türk Telekom is a state-owned Turkish telecommunications company. Türk Telekom was separated from Turkish Post (PTT) in 1995. Türk Telekom Group provides integrated telecommunication services for PSTN, GSM, and wide-band Internet. The Türk ...

. In March 2011, he left Türk Telekom, by mutual agreement, and then signed with the Russian club

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...

, until the end of the 2010–11 season. In August 2011, he moved to the Italian club Benetton Treviso, for one season. In October 2012, he signed with the Iranian Super League club Petrochimi Bandar Imam. On 14 April 2013, Bečirović signed with the Italian club

Dinamo Sassari Polisportiva Dinamo, commonly known as Dinamo Sassari and currently known as Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Sassari, Sardinia. They are the current European Cu ...

, until the end of the season. In August 2013, he returned to Iran, and signed a one-year deal with Foolad Mahan Isfahan. In December 2013, Bečirović returned to the Slovenian club Krka Novo Mesto, for the 2013–14 season. In August 2014, he signed with Fulgor Libertas Forlì of the Italian Second Division. On 4 January 2015, he left Forli, and signed with Pallacanestro Piacentina of the Italian 3rd Division. On 16 March 2015, he parted ways with Piacentina.

National team career

Bečirovič was a member of the senior men's

Slovenian national basketball team The Slovenia men's national basketball team ( sl, Slovenska košarkarska reprezentanca) represents Slovenia in international basketball competitions, and is managed by the Basketball Federation of Slovenia. Since the independence of Slovenia in ...

that competed at

EuroBasket 1999 The 1999 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1999, was the 31st FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2000 Olympic Tournament, giving a berth ...

EuroBasket 2001 The 2001 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2001, was the 32nd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2002 FIBA World Championship, giving a be ...

EuroBasket 2005 The 2005 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2005, was the 34th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. It also served as Europe qualifier for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, giving a berth ...

and the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by ...

. He also played at the 2008 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament and at the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

Post playing career

Coaching career

Right after retiring from being a professional basketball player, Bečirovič returned to the Greek club

, where he worked as an

assistant coach A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the Hun ...

Aleksandar Đorđević Aleksandar "Saša" Đorđević or Sale Đorđević (Anglicized: Sasha Djordjevic; sr-Cyrl, Александар Саша Ђорђевић, ; born 26 August 1967) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serve ...

Executive career

On 13 June 2019, Bečirovič was appointed as the sports director of the newly formed Slovenian club

Personal life

Bečirovič is married to Italian Simona, and he also holds an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

passport. The couple have one daughter (Samija, born 2005), and one son (Kiam, born 2008). In 2013 he established the Sani Bečirovič Basketball Academy, of which he is currently the sports director. His nickname is Sani Boy.Sani Becirovic (Sani Boy).
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References

External links

*
Twitter Account

Euroleague.net profileDraftexpress.com ProfileEurobasket.com ProfileItalian League Profile

Greek Basket League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Becirovic, Sani 1981 births Living people 2006 FIBA World Championship players 2010 FIBA World Championship players ABA League players Basketball executives Denver Nuggets draft picks Dinamo Sassari players Foolad Mahan Isfahan BC players Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna players Fulgor Libertas Forlì players Italian basketball coaches Italian men's basketball players KK Krka players KK Zlatorog Laško players KK Olimpija players KK Cedevita Olimpija executives Olimpia Milano players Pallacanestro Treviso players Pallacanestro Varese players Pallacanestro Virtus Roma players Panathinaikos B.C. non-playing staff Panathinaikos B.C. players PBC CSKA Moscow players Petrochimi Bandar Imam BC players Point guards Shooting guards Slovenian basketball coaches Slovenian expatriate basketball people in Greece Slovenian expatriate basketball people in Italy Slovenian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Slovenian men's basketball players Slovenian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Small forwards Sportspeople from Maribor Türk Telekom B.K. players Virtus Bologna players Slovenian expatriate basketball people in Iran Slovenian expatriate basketball people in Russia Naturalised citizens of Italy