Branko Radović (basketball)

Branko Radović (Serbian Cyrillic: Бранко Радовић; December 5, 1933 – November 18, 1993) was a Yugoslav basketball player and coach. He represented the Yugoslavia national team internationally. He is a member of Split Sports Hall of Fame under the name Father of Split's basketball.[1]

Branko Radović
Personal information
Born(1933-12-05)5 December 1933
Dubrovnik, Zeta Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Died18 November 1993(1993-11-18) (aged 59)
Split, Croatia
NationalityCroatian
Career information
NBA draft1955: undrafted
Playing career1949–1964
Coaching career1964–1972
Career history
As player:
1949–1952Split
1952–1954Montažno
1954–1957Partizan
1957–1960Crvena zvezda
1960–1964Split
As coach:
1964–1972Jugoplastika Split
Career highlights and awards
As coach
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  Yugoslavia
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place 1959 Lebanon Team
Balkan Basketball Championship
Silver medal – second place 1959 Romania Team

Playing career

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Radović started and finished his career with the Split of the Yugoslav First League. In between, he played for the Montažno in Zagreb as well as for the Partizan and the Crvena zvezda in Belgrade.

In 1959 season he was a top scorer with 31 points per game, more than Radivoj Korać. In a game with Lokomotiva Zagreb he scored a record high 64 points.[2]

Yugoslavia national team

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As a player for the Yugoslavia national basketball team Radović played 32 games between 1957–1959. He participated at two European Championships (1957 in Bulgaria and 1959 in Turkey)[3] He won a gold medal at the 1959 Mediterranean Games in Lebanon.

Coaching career

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After retiring from his playing career in 1964, Radović became a head coach of the Jugoplastika. He won the first national championship title for Split in 1970–71 season and led them to the 1972 European Champions Cup Finals, where he lost to the Italian team Ignis Varese led by Aleksandar Nikolić.[4] He spent his entire coaching career with team from Split and retired after the 1971–72 season. During that time players of Jugoplastika included Ratomir Tvrdić, Damir Šolman, Petar Skansi and Duje Krstulović.

Career achievements

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Individual

See also

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References

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