Veljko Mršić (; born 13 April 1971) is a

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 ...

n 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 ...

coach and former player, who is currently the

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 Río Breogán of the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

Playing career

Mršić was a member of the

FIBA European Selection FIBA All-Star Games were all-star basketball exhibition games, which were also known as "FIBA Festivals". The "FIBA Festival All-Star Games" were held from 1964 to 1995. The FIBA European Selection teams won most of the FIBA Festival All-Star Ga ...

team in 1995.

National team career

Mršić was a member of the Croatia men's national basketball team, which won bronze medals at the 1994 World Championship,

1993 EuroBasket The 1993 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1993, was the 28th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Germany between 22 June and 4 July 1993. Sixteen national teams entered ...

and at the

1995 EuroBasket The 1995 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1995, was the 29th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to e ...

. He was also on the squad for the

1996 Summer Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

1999 EuroBasket 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 ...

and for the

2001 EuroBasket 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 b ...

Coaching career

Split (2006)

Mršić started his

ing career with his hometown club Split. On 15 June 2006, he was named head coach of the club, but following a series of poor results in the

NLB 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 ...

, he was sacked on 13 December 2006.

Varese (2007–2008)

Following the dismissal at his hometown, Mršić was appointed head coach for

Pallacanestro Varese Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian basketball league system, Italian first ...

of the Italian Serie A on 13 June 2007.

Cedevita (2011–2012, 2013–2017)

In 2011 Mršić was named head coach of the

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 ...

junior team, with which he celebrated winning the 2012 Croatian championship title. Later he worked as an assistant coach under Cedevita head coach

Jasmin Repeša Jasmin Repeša (born 1 June 1961) is a Bosnian-born Croatian professional basketball coach and former player whose last coached team was Fortitudo Bologna of the Italian Serie A. Repeša has won numerous pro club competitions during his head coa ...

, who left the club due to health reasons in June 2015 when Mršić succeeded him as the new head coach of the senior team. In Mršić's inaugural season with Cedevita, the club won the Croatian League title and reached the playoffs of the ABA League. In the following season, Cedevita again won the

national league The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

title, but lost the ABA League playoffs final game tie to Serbian team Crvena zvezda. In May 2017 Mršić was fired from Cedevita and replaced by renowned Slovenian coach

Jure Zdovc Jurij "Jure" Zdovc (born 13 December 1966) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player and coach Zdovc Returning to Helm of National Team.] As a player, he was a 1.98 m (6'6") tall point guard, who began his professional playing career ...

Cibona (2012)

On 11 June 2012, Mršić was named head coach of KK Cibona, Cibona. He signed a three-year deal, but on 26 November 2012, he was sacked.

Bilbao Basket (2017–2018)

On 27 November 2017, Mršić was named head coach of the Spanish Liga ACB team Bilbao Basket. On 30 April 2018, he parted ways with the Spanish team, which was then taken by Slovenian coach

Jaka Lakovič Jaka Lakovič (born 9 July 1978) is a Slovenian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as a head coach for Gran Canaria of the Liga ACB, as well as an assistant coach of the Slovenia national team. Standing at , a ...

Zadar (2020–2021)

On 25 June 2020, Mršić was named head coach of Croatian club

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 ...

. In his inaugural season at the club, he celebrated winning the

national cup The English National Cup is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the National Basketball League. For most of the competition's history, the draw has ...

title in February 2021. In June 2021 Mršić led Zadar to win the

title, for the first time since the 2007–08 season. In July 2021, he left Zadar.

Río Breogán (2022–present)

On January 20, 2022, he has signed with Río Breogán of the

Coaching record

EuroLeague

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, align="left", 2015–16 , 10 , , 4 , , 6 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in Top 16 stage , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career, , 10, , 4, , 6, , , ,

National team coaching

Croatia (2019–2022)

On 2 May 2019, the Croatian Basketball Federation announced Mršić was appointed head coach of the Croatian national basketball team. Mršić debuted at Croatia bench at the

2019 NBA Summer League The 2019 NBA Summer League was held at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It began on July 5 and ended on July 15. All 30 teams and two national teams, China and Croat ...

, while in July he celebrated winning the

Stanković Cup Stanković ( sr-cyr, Станковић, ) is a common surname derived from the South Slavic masculine given name Stanko. Stanković is the eighth most frequent surname in Serbia, and is also common in Croatia, with 2,842 carriers (2011 census). I ...

title in China. On 5 February 2020, Mršić published the roster for the 2022 EuroBasket qualifiers, bringing back two experienced players,

Krunoslav Simon Krunoslav Simon (born 24 June 1985) is a Croatian professional basketball currently playing for Cedevita Junior of the Croatian League. Professional career After spending his youth years in KK Maksimir and KK Zrinjevac, Simon joined KK Zagreb ...

and

Roko Ukić Roko Leni Ukić (born December 5, 1984) is a Croatian professional basketball player currently playing for Split in the Croatian League and ABA League. Standing at , he mainly played at the point guard position, but could also play at the shoo ...

, on the national squad. On 21 and 24 February, Croatia opened qualifiers with two consecutive wins, against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

(72–56) and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

(69–59). On 29 November 2020, Croatia secured its place in the finals with a 87–72 victory over Sweden. On 20 January 2022, Mršić left his post as the national head coach.

Awards and accomplishments

Club titles that Mršić won as a senior level player: * Croatian League Champion: **1993, 1994, 1995, 1998 * Lithuanian League Champion: **1997 *

Italian League The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

Champion: **1999 * FIBA Korać Cup Champion: ** 2000–01 *

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 ...

Winner: **1995 Club titles that Mršić won as a head coach: * Croatian League Champion: (with

: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17; with

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

) *

Winner: (with Cedevita: 2015–16, 2016–17; with

: 2020–21)

References

External links

Euroleague.net Player ProfileEuroleague.net Coach ProfileSpanish League Player Profile

Italian League Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mrsic, Veljko 1971 births Living people 1994 FIBA World Championship players Baloncesto Málaga players Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics BC Kyiv players BC Žalgiris players CB Girona players CB Granada players Croatian basketball coaches Croatian expatriate basketball people in Spain Croatian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Croatian men's basketball players KK Cibona players KK Cedevita coaches KK Split players Liga ACB players Olimpia Milano players Olympiacos B.C. players Olympic basketball players of Croatia Pallacanestro Varese players Shooting guards Small forwards Basketball players from Split, Croatia Ülker G.S.K. basketball players KK Zadar coaches