Veljko Mršić (; born 13 April 1971) is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n 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 currently 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

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 ...

of the Croatian Premijer liga and the

ABA League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedoni ...

Playing career

Mršić was a member of the

FIBA European Selection The FIBA Europe All-Star Game was the all-star basketball exhibition game, which was also known as the "FIBA Europe Festival". The "FIBA Europe Festival All-Star Game" was held from 1964 to 1995. It was organized by FIBA Europe. The FIBA Europe ...

team in 1995.

National team career

Mršić was a member 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 ...

, which won bronze medals at the 1994 World Championship,

1993 EuroBasket 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 ...

and at the

1995 EuroBasket The 1995 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1995, was the 29th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to e ...

. He was also on the squad for the

1996 Summer Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

1999 EuroBasket The 1999 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1999, was the 31st FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2000 Olympic Tournament, giving a berth ...

and for the

2001 EuroBasket The 2001 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2001, was the 32nd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2002 FIBA World Championship, giving a be ...

Coaching career

Split (2006)

Mršić started his

ing career with his hometown club

. On 15 June 2006, he was named head coach of the club, but following a series of poor results in the

NLB League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the ABA League system, top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured sports club, clubs from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, former Y ...

, he was sacked on 13 December 2006.

Varese (2007–2008)

Following the dismissal at his hometown, Mršić was appointed head coach for

Pallacanestro Varese Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian basketball league system, Italian first ...

of the Italian Serie A on 13 June 2007.

Cedevita (2011–2012, 2013–2017)

In 2011 Mršić was named head coach of the

Cedevita Cedevita d.o.o. is a Croatian company which produces a wide range of teas, instant drinks, and dietetic products. A notable owner of the company was the Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva d.d. Since 2001 Cedevita has been part of the Atlan ...

junior team, with which he celebrated winning the 2012 Croatian championship title. Later he worked as an assistant coach under Cedevita head coach

Jasmin Repeša Jasmin Repeša (born 1 June 1961) is a Bosnian-born Croatian professional basketball coach and former player currently serving as head coach for Trapani Shark of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A. Repeša has won numerous pro club competitions d ...

, who left the club for health reasons in June 2015 when Mršić succeeded him as the new head coach of the senior team. In Mršić's inaugural season with Cedevita, the club won the Croatian League title and reached the playoffs of the

. In the following season, Cedevita again won the

national league National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

title, but lost the ABA League playoffs final game tie to Serbian team

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 ...

. In May 2017 Mršić was fired from Cedevita and replaced by renowned Slovenian coach

Jure Zdovc Jurij "Jure" Zdovc (born 13 December 1966) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player and coach. He was most recently the head coach of Bursaspor of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). As a player, he was a tall point guard, who ...

Cibona (2012)

On 11 June 2012, Mršić was named head coach of

Cibona Košarkaški klub Cibona, commonly referred to as Cibona Zagreb or simply Cibona, is a men's professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Association, and compete ...

. He signed a three-year deal, but on 26 November 2012, he was sacked.

Bilbao Basket (2017–2018)

On 27 November 2017, Mršić was named head coach of the Spanish Liga ACB team

Bilbao Basket Club Basket Bilbao Berri Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., commonly known as Bilbao Basket (), also known as Surne Bilbao Basket for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Bilbao, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. T ...

. On 30 April 2018, he parted ways with the Spanish team, which was then taken by Slovenian coach

Jaka Lakovič Jaka Lakovič (born 9 July 1978) is a Slovenian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as a head coach for Gran Canaria of the Liga ACB, as well as an assistant coach of the senior Slovenia national team. Standin ...

Zadar (2020–2021)

On 25 June 2020, Mršić was named head coach of Croatian club

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

. In his inaugural season at the club, he celebrated winning the

national cup The English National Cup is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the National Basketball League (England), National Basketball League. For most of th ...

title in February 2021. In June 2021 Mršić led Zadar to win the

title, for the first time since the 2007–08 season. In July 2021, he left Zadar.

Río Breogán (2022–2024)

On January 20, 2022, he has signed with Río Breogán of the

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

. In December 2024, after a bad start of the

2024–25 ACB season The 2024–25 ACB season, also known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the 42nd season of the top Spanish professional basketball league, since its establishment in 1983. It started on 28 September 2024 with the regular season and will en ...

, winning in only two of the first nine games, Mršić was replaced by Luis Casimiro as the head coach.

Split (2025–present)

In January 2025, Mršić was back in

, the club where he started his coaching carrier.

Coaching record

EuroLeague

, - , align="left",

, align="left", 2015–16 , 10 , , 4 , , 6 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in Top 16 stage , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career, , 10, , 4, , 6, , , ,

National team coaching

Croatia (2019–2022)

On 2 May 2019, the

Croatian Basketball Federation The Croatian Basketball Federation () is a non-profit organization and the national sports governing body of basketball in Croatia. It was founded on 19 December 1948 as a member of the larger Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia. On 19 January 1 ...

announced Mršić was appointed head coach of the

Croatian 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 ...

. Mršić debuted at Croatia bench at the

2019 NBA Summer League The 2019 NBA Summer League was held at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It began on July 1 and ended on July 15. All 30 teams and two national teams, China and Cr ...

, while in July he celebrated winning the

Stanković Cup Stanković ( sr-Cyrl, Станковић, ) is a common surname derived from the South Slavic masculine given name Stanko. Stanković is the eighth most frequent surname in Serbia, and is also common in Croatia, with 2,842 carriers (2011 census). ...

title in China. On 5 February 2020, Mršić published the roster for the

2022 EuroBasket qualifiers The EuroBasket 2022 qualification was a basketball competition that was played from November 2017 to February 2021, to determine the 20 FIBA Europe nations who would join the automatically qualified co-hosts Czech Republic, Georgia, Italy, and G ...

, bringing back two experienced players,

Krunoslav Simon Krunoslav Simon (born 24 June 1985) is a Croatian professional basketball currently playing for Samobor of the Croatian second-tier First Men's Basketball League. Professional career After spending his youth years in KK Maksimir and KK Zrinjeva ...

and

Roko Ukić Roko Leni Ukić (born December 5, 1984) is a Croatian former professional basketball player. Standing at , he mainly played at the point guard position, but could also play at the shooting guard position. Professional career Ukić was born and ...

, on the national squad. On 21 and 24 February, Croatia opened qualifiers with two consecutive wins, against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

(72–56) and the

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 ...

(69–59). On 29 November 2020, Croatia secured its place in the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

with a 87–72 victory over Sweden. On 20 January 2022, Mršić left his post as the national head coach.

Awards and accomplishments

Club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''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 and enterprises * ...

titles that Mršić won as a senior level player: * Croatian League Champion: **1993, 1994, 1995, 1998 * Lithuanian League Champion: **1997 * Italian League Champion: **1999 *

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 ...

Champion: ** 2000–01 *

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup *Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup The Croatian Water Polo C ...

Winner: **1995 Club titles that Mršić won as a head coach: * Croatian League Champion: (with

: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17; with

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

) *

Winner: (with Cedevita: 2015–16, 2016–17; with

: 2020–21)

References

External links

Euroleague.net Player ProfileEuroleague.net Coach ProfileSpanish League Player Profile

Italian League Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mrsic, Veljko 1971 births Living people 1994 FIBA World Championship players Baloncesto Málaga players Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics BC Kyiv players BC Žalgiris players CB Girona players CB Granada players Croatian basketball coaches Croatian expatriate basketball people in Spain Croatian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Croatian men's basketball players KK Cibona players KK Cedevita coaches KK Split players Liga ACB players Olimpia Milano players Olympiacos B.C. players Olympic basketball players for Croatia Pallacanestro Varese players Shooting guards Small forwards Basketball players from Split, Croatia Ülker G.S.K. basketball players KK Zadar coaches