Aleksandar "Aca" Nikolić ( sr-cyr, Александар "Аца" Николић; 28 October 1924 – 12 March 2000) was a Serbian 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 (appro ...

player and coach. He was also a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

's Faculty of Sport and Physical Education. He is often referred to as the Father of Yugoslav and Serbian Basketball. Nikolić acted as a mentor to many young basketball coaches in Yugoslavia, some of whom—such as Božidar Maljković, Dušan Ivković, Bogdan Tanjević, and Željko Obradović—would go on to great professional success in their own right. Nicknamed the Professor and Iron Sergeant, Nikolić was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 1998, and into the

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA in 1991. Originally built in ...

in 2007. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors.

Early life

Though his parents lived in

Brčko Brčko ) is a city and the administrative seat of Brčko District, in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies on the banks of Sava river across from Croatia. As of 2013, it has a population of 39,893 inhabitants. De jure, the Brčko District b ...

, Nikolić was born in

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 ...

, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, due to his pregnant mother, Krista, suddenly going into labour while visiting her sister in Sarajevo. Young Aleksandar enjoyed a privileged upbringing courtesy of his wealthy father, Đorđe Nikolić, who had him at the age of 62. After spending the first few years of his life in Brčko, Nikolić moved with his family to the capital

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 ...

, where he would grow up. Nikolić attended the Kralj Aleksandar Gymnasium at the Belgrade neighbourhood of Banovo Brdo. He then studied medicine and law at the

, graduating in 1946.

Playing career

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

, Nikolić played 7 seasons in the Yugoslavia Federal League, from 1945 to 1951. During his playing days, he played for the Yugoslav Army ( 1945), Partizan (

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

), Crvena zvezda (1945,

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

–

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

), Železničar Čačak and BSK Beograd (

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

). He won the Yugoslav Championships in 1945 with the Yugoslav Army and in 1947, 1948, and 1949, with Crvena Zvezda. He retired as a player with BSK Beograd in 1951.

National team playing career

Nikolić was a member of the Yugoslavia national basketball team during the late 1940s, making in 10 appearances.

Coaching career

Club coaching career

After his playing career was over, Nikolić became involved with coaching, both with

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 ...

-based

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Club (magazine), ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands a ...

, and those in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, notably Ignis Varese.

Yugoslavia national team

Nikolić was also the

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 ...

of the senior Yugoslav national squad, between 1951 and 1965, and later between 1977 and 1978. During this time, he coached two future

members Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

, in Borislav Stanković and Krešimir Ćosić. Under his leadership, Yugoslavia won the gold medals at the 1978 FIBA World Championship and the 1977 EuroBasket; silver medals at the 1963 FIBA World Championship, 1961 EuroBasket, and 1965 EuroBasket, and a bronze medal at the 1963 EuroBasket.

Death

Nikolić died on 12 March 2000, in

. He is buried in the '' Alley of Distinguished Citizens'' at Belgrade's New Cemetery. In February 2016, in Nikolić's honour, the name of the City of Belgrade-owned Hala Pionir was changed to the Aleksandar Nikolić Hall. Following the arena name change, Nikolić's daughter Dubravka Nikolić Rakočević wrote a letter to the Serbia Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, expressing gratitude on behalf of the late Nikolić's family.

In popular culture

* In the 2015 Serbian sports drama, '' We Will Be the World Champions'', Nikolić is portrayed by Marko Janketić.Full Cast & Crew of We Will Be the World Champions.
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References

External links

Aleksandar Nikolić
at fiba.basketball
Aleksandar Nikolić
at hoophall.com
Aleksandar Nikolić
at leagabasket.it

at mondo.rs {{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolic, Aleksandar 1924 births 2000 deaths Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate basketball people in Serbia EuroLeague–winning coaches FIBA EuroBasket–winning coaches FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna coaches KK Borac Čačak coaches KK Crvena zvezda head coaches KK Crvena zvezda players KK Partizan coaches KK Partizan players OKK Beograd coaches OKK Beograd players KK Železničar Čačak players Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Pallacanestro Petrarca Padova coaches Pallacanestro Varese coaches Reyer Venezia coaches Serbian men's basketball coaches Serbian men's basketball players Serbian expatriate basketball people in Italy Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Small forwards Basketball players from Sarajevo Academic staff of the University of Belgrade University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine alumni Victoria Libertas Pesaro coaches Virtus Bologna coaches Yugoslav basketball coaches Yugoslav men's basketball players Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery 1942 Belgrade Basketball Championship players