Nebojša Ilić (basketball)

Nebojša "Neša" Ilić (Serbian Cyrillic: Небојша "Неша" Илић; born 26 February 1968) is a Serbian basketball executive and former player. He is currently serving as the team manager for Crvena zvezda and the Serbia national basketball team.

Nebojša Ilić
Nebojša Ilić in 2015
Crvena zvezda Meridianbet
PositionTeam Manager
LeagueBasketball League of Serbia
Adriatic League
Personal information
Born (1968-02-26) February 26, 1968 (age 56)
Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
NationalitySerbian
Listed height1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Career information
NBA draft1990: undrafted
Playing career1985–1997
PositionShooting guard / small forward
Number5, 7
Career history
1985–1993Crvena zvezda
1993–1995Cáceres
1995–1997Crvena zvezda
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  Yugoslavia
European Championship for Cadets
Gold medal – first place 1985 Bulgaria Team
European Championship for Juniors
Gold medal – first place 1986 Austria Team
Junior World Championship
Gold medal – first place 1987 Italy Team

Playing career edit

Crvena zvezda (1985–1993, 1995–1997) edit

Ilić spent most of his professional career in his hometown-based team Crvena zvezda. Ilić holds the Yugoslav Basketball League record for points in one game. On November 21, 1992, in a game against Vojvodina, he scored 71 points and set the league record.[1]

After the 1996–97 season, Ilić retires from professional basketball. In ten seasons with the Zvezda, he played 304 games (tied with Zoran Slavnić) and scored 4,732 points.[2]

Cáceres (1993–1995) edit

Ilić had a stint with Spanish team Cáceres. He played two Liga ACB seasons there.[3] The most important achievement there was the semifinals of the 1994–95 FIBA Korać Cup.

National team career edit

Youth edit

Ilić was a member of the gold medal-winning Yugoslav cadet team at the 1985 European Championship for Cadets in Ruse, Bulgaria. Over seven tournament games as the team's leading scorer, he averaged 20.4 points per game.[4]

One year later, Ilić made the Yugoslavia national under-18 team at the 1986 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship in Austria. Playing on the gold-winning team, over seven tournament games, he averaged the team-leading 15.0 points per game.[5]

Ilić was a member of the Yugoslavia national under-19 team that won the gold medal at the 1987 FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Bormio, Italy. Over six tournament games as the team's leading scorer, he averaged 15.3 points per game.[6]

In each of the three tournaments, Svetislav Pešić was the head coach, while Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoč, Radenko Dobraš, and Slaviša Koprivica were his teammates.

Basketball executive career edit

 
Crvena zvezda team manager Ilić talking to Zvezda's player Pero Antić in October 2017.

Crvena zvezda (2001–present) edit

Ilić have been serving as a team manager of Crvena zvezda since 2001.[3] On September 19, 2017, he became a sports director of the Zvezda.[7] He left the sports director office in October 2019.

As a staff manager of the Zvezda, Ilić won as follows:

Serbia national team (2010–present) edit

In 2010, Ilić joined the Serbia national basketball team's staff as the team manager. Since then, he worked with four head coaches; Dušan Ivković, Aleksandar Đorđević, Igor Kokoškov, and current Svetislav Pešić.

Ilić won four silver medals with the national team: 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, 2016 Summer Olympics, EuroBasket 2017 and 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Nebojša Ilić: Šuter kakvih danas nema". novosti.rs. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Želja mi je da ojačamo, a ne da oslabimo državu". politika.rs. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Dve karijere Nebojše Neše Ilića". rts.rs. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  4. ^ "1985 Yugoslavia Cadets - #9 - Nebojsa Ilic". archive.fiba.com. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  5. ^ "1986 Yugoslavia Juniors #6 - Nebojsa Ilic". archive.fiba.com. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  6. ^ "1987 Yugoslavia Juniors #6 - Nebojsa Ilic". archive.fiba.com. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  7. ^ "Nebojša Ilić novi sportski direktor Crvene zvezde mts". kkcrvenazvezda.rs. Retrieved 20 September 2017.

External links edit