Nikola Vučević

Nikola Vucevic

No. 8   KK Budućnost Podgorica
Center
Personal information
Date of birth	October 24, 1990 (1990-10-24) (age 21)
Place of birth	Morges, Switzerland
Nationality	Montenegrin
High school	Stoneridge Prep
Listed height	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight	260 lb (118 kg)
Career information
College	USC
NBA Draft	2011 / Round: 1 / Pick: 16th overall
Selected by the Philadelphia 76ers
Pro career	2011–present
League	National Basketball Association

Nikola Vucevic (born October 24, 1990 in Morges, Switzerland) is a Montenegrin professional basketball player who plays for the KK Budućnost Podgorica during NBA lockout. He was selected 16th overall in the 2011 NBA Draft. He played college basketball for the USC Trojans.

High School

Vucevic averaged 18 points and 12.0 rebounds as a senior at Stoneridge Prep in Simi Valley, California. Under coach Babacar Sy, he was the leading scorer, rebounder, and was team captain. He arrived at the school in October from his native Montenegro. Ranked by HoopsScoop Online as the No. 26 fifth-year senior in the country.

College

Vucevic played three seasons with the USC Trojans of the University of Southern California.

Freshman

Vucevic missed the first eight games of the season while waiting to have his amateur status confirmed by the NCAA Clearinghouse. He averaged 2.6 points and 2.7 rebounds in 23 games in three starts. Nikola played in his first game with USC on December 15, 2008, against the Pepperdine Waves and had two points, two blocks, and two rebounds in six minutes. He made his first start of the season on January 24, 2009, at Washington St. Cougars and was instrumental in the Trojans' 46-44 win with a season-high eight points and five rebounds. He also scored eight points on February 9, 2009, at UCLA and in his second start of the season on Feb. 19 against Washington State. Vucevic had a season-best seven rebounds in that game and matched that total on March 5, 2009, vs. the Oregon Ducks. Nikola scored six points and had four rebounds in the NCAA second-round loss to Michigan State on March 22. In all, he made 57.8 percent of his shots from the field (26-for-45).

Sophomore

Vucevic began to excel in his sophomore season where he was the second top scorer and the best rebounder on the Trojans, with 10.7 points 9.4 rebounds per game. He finishing second on the team in scoring (10.7 ppg) and first in rebounding (9.4 rpg). He led USC in scoring five times and in rebounding 20 times, including the last nine games. Nikola lead the Pac-10 with 283 rebounds and offensive rebounds per game (6.3) and his 39 blocks were the fourth most in the conference. Vucevic's .504 shooting percentage (126-for-250) led USC and was seventh best in the Pac-10. Vucevic was named the 2009-10 Pac-10 Most Improved Player.^[1] He had the second most blocks ever in a season by a Trojan sophomore and the third most rebounds. Nikola started all 30 games for USC and posted 10 double-doubles. He scored 18 points and had eight rebounds in the first game of the season against UC Riverside on November 17, 2009, both totals better than any of his freshman games. Vucevic had 18 points and 14 rebounds at Texas on December 3, 2009. He scored a career-high 19 points and had 11 rebounds vs. the Loyola Lions on November 21, 2009, for his first career double-double. Matched his career high with 19 points on 9 of 12 shooting at UCLA on January 16, 2010, scoring 17 points in the second half.

Junior

As a junior, he was picked to the Fourth Team All-America by Fox Sports.^[2] Vucevic was included in the top five of the conference. In March 2011, Vucevic announced that he would give up his senior year to be submitted to the NBA Draft. The website NBAdraft.net projected him as the 23rd pick in the draft.^[3]

During his tenure with the Trojans, Vucevic averaged 11.1 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.

Professional

Vucevic was drafted with the 16th pick of the 2011 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers on June 23, 2011.^[4]

Personal life

Vucevic was raised in Belgium where his father was playing professional basketball. Vucevic's father, Borislav, played professionally for 24 years and was a member of the Yugoslavian national basketball team. His father also coached professionally in Belgium. Nikola's mother also played professional basketball in Bosnia. His family moved to Montenegro when Nikola was a teenager. In 2007, he was voted the best young player in Montenegro and is a current member of the U18 national team. Vucevic was ranked as one of the top four players in Montenegro in 2005 and 2006. He says his dream job outside of basketball would be to become an actor. Vucevic wore the No. 5 when he was at USC because his sister was born on the 5th of September.

References

1. ^ "Player Profile: Nikola Vucevic". USC Trojans. University of Southern California. http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/vucevic_nikola00.html. Retrieved June 23, 2010. 
2. ^ Goodman, Jeff (March 7, 2011). "Goodman's 2010-11 All-America teams". Fox Sports (Fox Sports Interactive Media). http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebasketball/story/duke-blue-devils-notre-dame-fighting-irish-represented-postseason-honors-030711. Retrieved June 21, 2011. 
3. ^ http://www.nbadraft.net/nba_mock_draft/2011
4. ^ http://www.nbadraft.net/nba_final_draft/2011

Persondata
Name	Vucevic, Nikola
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 24, 1990
Place of birth	Morges, Switzerland
Date of death
Place of death