Vilmos Lóczi ( sr-cyr, Вилмош Лоци; 19 January 1925 – 12 July 1991), also credited as Vilmoš Loci, was a Yugoslav basketball coach and player. He represented the

Yugoslavia national basketball team The Yugoslavia men's national basketball team ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Košarkaška reprezentacija Jugoslavije, Кошаркашка репрезентација Југославије; sl, Jugoslovanska košarkarska reprezentanca; mk, ...

internationally. Lóczi was one of the best Yugoslav players from the 1940s and the 1950s according to

Nebojša Popović Nebojša Popović ( sr-cyr, Небојша Поповић; 8 February 1923 – 20 October 2001) was a Serbian basketball player, coach and administrator. He represented the Yugoslavia national basketball team internationally. He is the basketbal ...

Aleksandar Nikolić Aleksandar "Aca" Nikolić ( sr-cyr, Александар "Аца" Николић; 28 October 1924 – 12 March 2000) was a Serbian professional basketball player and coach. He was also a professor at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Sp ...

Ranko Žeravica Ranko Žeravica ( sr-cyr, Ранко Жеравица; 17 November 1929 – 29 October 2015) was a Serbian professional basketball coach. With a career that spanned over 50 years, he is most noted for his work with the senior Yugoslav national t ...

and

Mirko Novosel Mirko Novosel (born 30 June 1938) is a Croatian former professional basketball coach and player. Novosel coached some of the greatest players in former Yugoslavia and Croatia, such as Croatian Hall of Fame players Krešimir Ćosić and Dražen Pe ...

Early life

Lóczi was born in

Veliki Bečkerek Zrenjanin ( sr-Cyrl, Зрењанин, ; hu, Nagybecskerek; ro, Becicherecu Mare; sk, Zreňanin; german: Großbetschkerek) is a city and the administrative center of the Central Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia ...

to Hungarian parents from Pest. His father was a

construction worker A construction worker is a worker employed in the physical construction of the built environment and its infrastructure. Definition By some definitions, workers may be engaged in manual labour as unskilled or semi-skilled workers; they may be sk ...

who died in Albania.

Playing career

Lóczi started to play basketball for his hometown team Proleter of the

Yugoslav Basketball League The First Federal Basketball League () was the highest tier level men's professional club basketball competition in SFR Yugoslavia. Founded in 1945 and folded in 1992 (1991-92 Winer Broker YUBA League), it was run by the Basketball Federation o ...

. In 1948, he moved to Belgrade-based team

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 ...

where he played until 1950. Over three seasons with Partizan, he averaged 11.7 points per game. In 1951, Lóczi moved back to Proleter. On 19 June 1951, Lóczi played one game for

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 ...

at an international cup tournament in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Italy. He recorded game-high 19 points in a 54–24 win over Ginnastica Roma. During his second stint with Proleter, he won the National Championships in the 1956 season. Lóczi was a part of the group of players known as the Proleter's Five, which included himself,

Milutin Minja Milutin Minja ( sr-cyr, Милутин Миња) was a Yugoslav basketball player and coach. He represented the Yugoslavia national basketball team internationally. Playing career Minja started his basketball career with Radnički Kristal from ...

Ljubomir Katić Ljubomir "Ljuba" Katić ( sr-cyr, Љубомир "Љуба" Катић; born 25 April 1934) is a Serbian former basketball player and coach. He represented the Yugoslavia national basketball team internationally. Playing career Katić started h ...

, Dušan Radojčić, and

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 ...

. In 1960, Lóczi announced his retirement from playing after Proleter got relegated from the First League.

National team career

Lóczi was a member of the Yugoslavia national team that participated at the

1950 FIBA World Championship The 1950 FIBA World Championship, also called the 1st World Basketball Championship – 1950, was an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 22 October to 3 November ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina. Over four tournament games, he averaged 7.8 points per game. The World Championship in Argentina was the inaugural tournament. At the 1953 FIBA European Championship in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, the Soviet Union, he averaged 6.7 points per game over eleven tournament games. At the

1954 FIBA World Championship The 1954 FIBA World Championship (also called the 2nd World Basketball Championship – 1954) was an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation in Ginásio do Maracanãzinho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil fr ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil, Lóczi averaged 7.0 points per game over five tournament games. At the 1955 FIBA European Championship 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, he averaged 8.2 points per game over nine tournament games. On June 10, 1955, he scored a national team-high 16 points in a win over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. At the 1957 FIBA European Championship 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, he averaged 2.8 points per game over eight tournament games. Lóczi is the first player who appeared in 100 games for the Yugoslavia national team. He averaged 6.7 points per game over 101 career games for the national team. Lóczi was the national team captain from 1953 to 1957.

Coaching career

Lóczi began his coaching career in Proleter. Also, he coached teams in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. Lóczi was the head coach of the Central African Republic national team for two years. He led the national team at the

1974 FIBA World Championship The 1974 FIBA World Championship was the 7th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Puerto Rico from July 3 to 14, 1974. The tournament was won by the Soviet Union. Venues Comp ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. He also coached the United Arab Emirates national team.

Career achievements and awards

Yugoslav League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League ( Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

champion: 1 (with

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 ...

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 The Basketball Federation of Serbia ( sr, Кошаркашки савез Србије, Košarkaški savez Srbije) is a non-profit organization and the national sports governing body for basketball in Serbia. The organization represents Serbia in ...

(2016, ''posthumous'')

In popular culture

* In the 2015 Serbian sports drama ''

We Will Be the World Champions ''We Will Be the World Champions'' ( sr, Бићемо прваци света, Bićemo prvaci sveta) is a 2015 Serbian sports drama film directed by Darko Bajić. It was one of six films shortlisted by Serbia to be their submission for the Acade ...

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loczi, Vilmos 1925 births 1991 deaths Hungarians in Vojvodina KK Crvena zvezda players KK Partizan players KK Proleter Zrenjanin players KK Proleter Zrenjanin coaches Serbian expatriate basketball people in Saudi Arabia Serbian expatriate basketball people in the Central African Republic Serbian expatriate basketball people in the United Arab Emirates Serbian men's basketball players Serbian men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Zrenjanin Yugoslav men's basketball players Yugoslav basketball coaches 1950 FIBA World Championship players 1954 FIBA World Championship players