Žarko Đurišić ( sr-Cyrl, Жарко Ђуришић; born March 31, 1961), also credited as Zarko Durisic, is a Montenegrin-born Slovenian

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 ...

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

, former player, and former coach who is currently the Director of international player personnel for the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA).

Playing career

Đurišić started his basketball career playing with the youth teams of Budućnost. In 1978, at age of 17, he moved to

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

of the Yugoslav Federal League. He played two seasons there, until 1980. Over 44 regular season games, he averaged 2.5 point per game. In 1980, Đurišić moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to play

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

where his four seasons in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I with the Shockers were very successful. Arriving to Wichita together with compatriot Zoran Radović, Đurišić joined the squad featuring future NBA players

Cliff Levingston Clifford Eugene Levingston (born January 4, 1961) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. Professional playing career A former power forward, Levingston played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Levingston s ...

, Antoine Carr, Xavier McDaniel and

Ozell Jones Ozell "Hoppy" Jones III (November 20, 1960 – September 7, 2006) was an American professional basketball player. He was listed at and weighed . Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, his family soon moved to Compton, California, and later to Long Beach, ...

as the sixth-seeded Wichita State team came within one game of making it to the

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

, losing the Midwest regional final to first regional seed

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. After finishing college career he went back to the Yugoslav League where he played for Budućnost and Smelt Olimpija. With Olimpija he also played Premier A Slovenian League after 1992.

National team career

Yugoslavia national team

Đurišić was a member of the Yugoslavia national cadet team that won the silver medal at the 1977 European Championship for Cadets. Over three tournament games, he averaged 4.7 points per game. He also was a member of the Yugoslavia national junior team that participated at the 1979 World Championship for Juniors and also won the silver medal at the 1980 European Championship for Juniors.

Slovenia national team

Đurišić was a member of the Slovenia national team that participated at the

EuroBasket 1993 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 entere ...

. Over three tournament games, he averaged 4.7 points per game. Slovenia took 14th place at the tournament. He played 27 games for the national team.

Post-playing career

Đurišić briefly coached Smelt Olimpija during the 1995–96 season. He took over the team's coaching reigns from Zmago Sagadin in January 2016, leading them to the Slovenian League title at the end of the season. Since summer 1996, Đurišić has been affiliated with the

organization where he heads up the team's international scouting efforts. Positions he previously held with the Wolves include director of college and international player personnel, director of player personnel, and head scout.

Personal life

Đurišić and his wife, Tatjana, have two daughters: Jelena and Aleksandra. Daughter Jelena (born 1989 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 ...

) is a Slovenian former tennis player.

Career achievements and awards

;Player *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

winner: 1 (with Smelt Olimpija: 1993–94) * Premier A Slovenian League champion: 4 (with Smelt Olimpija: 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95) *

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: 4 (with Smelt Olimpija: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995) ;Coach * Premier A Slovenian League champion: 1 (with Smelt Olimpija: 1995–96)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durisic, Zarko 1961 births Living people KK Budućnost players KK Crvena zvezda players KK Olimpija players KK Olimpija coaches Minnesota Timberwolves scouts Minnesota Timberwolves executives Montenegrin expatriate basketball people in Serbia Montenegrin expatriate basketball people in the United States Montenegrin men's basketball players Montenegrin basketball scouts NBA scouts from Europe Serbian expatriate basketball people in the United States Serbs of Montenegro Slovenian basketball coaches Slovenian basketball scouts Slovenian people of Serbian descent Slovenian people of Montenegrin descent Slovenian expatriate basketball people in Serbia Slovenian expatriate basketball people in the United States Slovenian men's basketball players Basketball players from Podgorica Wichita State Shockers men's basketball players Yugoslav men's basketball players Centers (basketball)