Igor Miličić (born June 9, 1976) is a Croatian-Polish 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 ...

coach and former player who is head coach for

Napoli Basket Napoli Basket may refer to: * Napoli Basket (2016), professional basketball team * S.S. Basket Napoli (1946-2009), professional basketball team * Partenope Napoli Basket, amateur basketball team {{Disambiguation ...

of the Italian

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

(LBA) and the Poland men's national basketball team.

Professional playing career

Miličić was one of the most talented players of the

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

youth teams in the 1990-s. As the starting playmaker he was one the leaders of the Croatia national under-18 basketball team that won silver at the 1994

FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The FIBA U18 EuroBasket is the new name for the FIBA U18 European Championship, originally known as the FIBA European Championship for Juniors. It is a men's youth basketball competition that was inaugurated with the 1964 edition. It was held bi ...

. After suffering a serious injury and a long recovery time, he moved to the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English language, English: Polish Basketball League), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Poland. I ...

. In Poland he became one of the best players of the league.

National team career

Miličić was named in the roster of the

Croatia men's national basketball team The Croatia men's national basketball team () represents Croatia in international basketball matches. The team is controlled by the Croatian Basketball Federation (HKS). The biggest success Croatia has achieved was at the 1992 Barcelona Olymp ...

in February 1998 for a FIBA EuroBasket 1999 qualification match against

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. This was the only time he was in the roster failing to appear on court.

Coaching career

Miličoć retired in 2013 as a player of

AZS Koszalin AZS Koszalin is a Polish basketball team, based in Koszalin. AZS currently plays in the I Liga, the second tier Polish basketball league. History The AZS Koszalin sports club was founded on 8 October 1968. The founding fathers participating in th ...

. He stayed in the same club as an assistant coach for Zoran Sretenović. After a series of bad results and head coach changes, Miličić was named the head coach. Under coach Miličić the team won nine out of last ten games of the 2013–14 PLK season, making it the playoffs. In the next season, he led the team to the 3rd position before playoffs. He later led

Anwil Włocławek Anwil is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Sissach (district), Sissach in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. History Anwil is first mentioned in 1276. Geography Anwil has an are ...

to two winning two Polish League championships and

Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski, also known as Tasomix Rosiek Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski for sponsorship reasons, is a Polish professional basketball team, based in Ostrów Wielkopolski. They play in the Polish Basketball League (PLK) since its promotio ...

to another one, establishing himself as one of the best coaches in Poland. In December 2022, Miličić took over

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

of the

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

. On June 16, 2023, he signed with

of the Italian

(LBA).

National team coaching career

Miličić took over the Poland men's national basketball team in 2021. He led Poland to fourth place at the

EuroBasket 2022 The EuroBasket 2022 was the 41st edition of the EuroBasket championship organized by FIBA Europe. It was the first since it was agreed it would take place every four years, with a similar system of qualification as for the FIBA Basketball World C ...

, surprisingly defeating

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

in the quarterfinals.

Personal life

Miličić's sons Igor Jr. (born 2002), Zoran (born 2006) and Teo (born 2008) all successfully play basketball. Igor Jr. played at the FIBA U20 European Championship and debuted for the senior Poland men's national basketball team.

References

External links

*
Igor Milicic
at RealGM {{DEFAULTSORT:Miličić, Igor Living people 1976 births Croatian expatriate basketball people in Greece Croatian expatriate basketball people in Kosovo Croatian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Arka Gdynia (basketball) players AZS Koszalin coaches AZS Koszalin players BC Enisey players Belfius Mons-Hainaut players Beşiktaş basketball coaches Croatian basketball coaches Croatian basketball players Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C. players KB Trepça players KK Kvarner players KK Split players Polish basketball coaches Polonia Warszawa (basketball) players Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski coaches Tuborg Pilsener basketball players Türk Telekom B.K. players