Žarko Varajić
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Žarko Varajić ( sr-cyr, Жарко Варајић; 26 December 1951 – 23 June 2019) was a Montenegrin
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 (appro ...
player and executive. He represented the Yugoslavia national team internationally.


Early career

Growing up in
Nikšić Nikšić (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Никшић, ), is the second largest city in Montenegro, with a total population of 32,046 (2023 census) located in the west of the country, in the centre of the spacious Nikšić field at the foot of Trebjesa ...
, Varajić pursued
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
in the FK Sutjeska youth system before fully devoting to basketball by switching to the basketball club within the same sports society — KK Sutjeska — and playing for its youth teams.


Playing career

In 1970, eighteen-year-old Varajić joined KK Bosna, a club competing in the second-tier level of Yugoslav basketball. With young players such as Anto Đogić, Rođeni Krvavac, and center Zdravko Čečur on its roster, the club sought a league promotion to the top-tier level
Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...
, a feat that had been eluding them for decades. During the summer of 1971, the club's head coaching post was taken over by the 24-year-old
Bogdan Tanjević Bogdan Tanjević ( sr-Cyrl, Богдан Тањевић; born 13 February 1947), nicknamed "Boša" () is a Montenegrin professional basketball coach and former player. He is best known for being KK Bosna's head coach when the club became the t ...
, who had just retired from playing. The young squad led by a young rookie
head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...
, and with the new acquisition of 22-year-old
Svetislav Pešić Svetislav "Kari" Pešić ( sr-Cyrl, Светислав "Кари" Пешић; born 28 August 1949) is a Serbian professional basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Serbia men's national team. Playing career During his club ...
from
KK Partizan Košarkaški klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Партизан, lit=Basketball Club Partizan), commonly known as Partizan Belgrade, or as Partizan Mozzart Bet for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball Sports cl ...
, the only player on the roster to have previously played top-tier level basketball, managed to gain promotion to the top-tier level
Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...
. Varajić proved to be a formidable tandem with team-mate
Mirza Delibašić Mirza Delibašić (9 January 1954 – 8 December 2001) was a Bosnian professional basketball player and coach. Delibašić was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. He was enshrined into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2008, he ...
, a tandem rivaled only by
Dražen Dalipagić Dražen "Praja" Dalipagić (; 27 November 1951 – 25 January 2025) was a Serbian professional basketball player and head coach. He was selected the best athlete of Yugoslavia in the year 1978, and is one of the most decorated athletes in Yugos ...
and Dragan Kićanović in Partizan. Bosna won the 1979 FIBA European Champions Cup in
Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...
, France where Varajić scored 45 points – the record for the number of points scored in the finals of the FIBA European Champions Cup (later called the
EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...
) – against the Italian club Emerson Varese by a score of 96–93.European club champions: 1958-2014
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National team career

Varajić was a member of the senior Yugoslav national basketball team. He played with Yugoslavia in 126
games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...
. Mostly used as backup to
Dražen Dalipagić Dražen "Praja" Dalipagić (; 27 November 1951 – 25 January 2025) was a Serbian professional basketball player and head coach. He was selected the best athlete of Yugoslavia in the year 1978, and is one of the most decorated athletes in Yugos ...
at small forward, Varajić won medals at the following tournaments: silver at the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games, gold at the 1977 EuroBasket, and bronze at the 1979 EuroBasket. He furthermore won golds at the 1974 Balkan Championship, 1975 Mediterranean Games, and 1976 Balkan Championship.


Post-playing career

* Marketing Manager for Marketing at the Bosnia University Sports Association. * Secretary General of the Federation of Organizations for Physical Education of Sarajevo. * Deputy Federal Minister of Sports. * Sports Director of men's national teams at the Basketball Federations of Yugoslavia,
Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...
, and
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
. * Member of the Olympic Committee of the
Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in ...
, in Sarajevo, in 1984. * President of the Expert Council of the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia, from 1987 to 1992 (golden years of Yugoslav basketball). * President of the Programs` Commission of the Yugoslav Olympic Committee, from 1996 to 2000. * Sports Director of the Yugoslav Olympic Team, at the Olympic Games in Sydney, in 2000. * President of the Sports` Association, ``Sport for all`` of Serbia, from 2003 to 2006. * Directly involved in the organization of the
EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...
in Belgrade, in 2005. * Director of the basketball tournament EYOF - European Youth Olympic Festival, in 2007. * Directly involved in the organization of the 2005 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, and 2007 FIBA Under-19 World Cup. * Director of the basketball tournament at the
Summer Universiade The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...
, in Belgrade, in 2009. * Actively worked on the realization of the project "National Awards".


Personal life

Varajić came to
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
at the age of seventeen in 1970 to study and play. He lived there until the break-out of the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
in early 1992, and since then he lived in
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
. He graduated from the University of Physical Education, Academy for Basketball Coaches - Basketball and Academy for Sports Managers Section.


Death

Varajić died on 23 June 2019. He was interred in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens in the Belgrade New Cemetery on 28 June 2019.


Awards and honors as a player


KK Bosna

* 3× Yugoslav League Champion: (1978, 1980, 1983) * 2×
Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...
Winner: (1978, 1984) *
FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA Europe between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the European professional club basketball system, third-tier level club competition in European basketball, a ...
Runner-up: (
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
) * FIBA European Champions Cup (EuroLeague) Champion: (
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
) *
FIBA Intercontinental Cup The FIBA Intercontinental Cup, previously known to as the FIBA World Cup for Champion Clubs and the FIBA Club World Cup, is an annual international men's basketball competition organised by FIBA, the sport's global governing body. The competit ...
Runner-up: (
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
) * Super Oscar for the best European player in all European Cups: (1979) * The highest national honor of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Honored May 25, 1980) * The highest national honor of the City of Sarajevo (Honored April 6, 1979) * Three golden pins of SOFKA of Yugoslavia * Decoration of ``Nemanja``, the first order of FR Yugoslavia * Decoration of the Yugoslav Flag, the first order


Yugoslav senior national team

* 1974 Balkan Championship: * 1975 Mediterranean Games: * 1976 Balkan Championship: * 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games: * 1977 EuroBasket: * 1979 EuroBasket:


See also

* Yugoslav First Federal Basketball League career stats leaders


References


External links


FIBA Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varajic, Zarko 1951 births 2019 deaths Basketball players at the 1976 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Nikšić Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery Competitors at the 1975 Mediterranean Games FIBA EuroBasket–winning players KK Bosna Royal players Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Mediterranean Games medalists in basketball Montenegrin expatriate basketball people in Serbia Olympic basketball players for Yugoslavia Olympic medalists in basketball Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Serbian basketball executives and administrators Serbian expatriate basketball people in the United Arab Emirates Serbian men's basketball players Serbs of Montenegro Small forwards Yugoslav men's basketball players