Eric Hampford:
Future150 GM / Senior National Analyst. Covering high and middle school basketball.
Montebello, CA (Future150) -- Written By: Nigel Carter (West Coast Analyst)
The rise of international basketball has grown tremendously over the past 20 years. The success of international players on both the collegiate and pro levels in America has been phenomenal. This success has motivated many players around the world to come to America to develop their games and achieve their basketball dreams.
This sentiment is no different for class of 2015 Cantwell-Sacred Heart (CA) Serbian big men Balsa Dragovic and Gligorije Rakocevic. Both players noted that they wanted to come over to America for "better basketball and more opportunities" and this season they have taken advantage of their opportunity and have made quite an impression.
Dragovic is a 6-foot-9 hybrid forward that can play on the perimeter but also has the skill to play in the post. Rakocevic on the other hand is a 6-foot-10 power forward that is more comfortable playing around the basket but can step out and hit an occasional jumpshot.
Dragovic described one of the major differences between American and European basketball as being the speed of the game. Dragovic said, "In Europe it is much slower and the players are less athletic but in America the game is faster and more intense."
This is something both players have had to get adjusted to, but now it seems this adjustment period is over and they are beginning to grab the attention of college coaches. The two bigs have seen their recruitment take off this past season and claim offers from Cal State-Northridge and Columbia, while they are receiving interest from Santa Clara, Pepperdine, Harvard, Yale, Davidson, LMU, Oregon State, Arizona State and California.
While both players are starting to have their recruitment pick up, both players want to continue to improve. For Dragovic, his main focus is to continue develop as an inside/outside threat. He says, "I'm working on improving my jump shot and my skill around the basket to play inside as well."
Rakocevic on the other hand wants to, "improve [his] inside post moves and strength to deal with the physical play." Both players are highly skilled and as they continue to adjust to American basketball and improve their games, they have the potential to be two of the best bigs on the West Coast.
Comments:
Be the first to post. Just use the form below.