Nemanja Djurišić

Nemanja Djurišić (Cyrillic: Немања Ђуришић; born February 23, 1992) is a Montenegrin professional basketball player who plays for Stelmet Zielona Góra of the Polish Basketball League. Djurišić is also currently a member of Montenegrin national basketball team and during his college years he played for the basketball team at University of Georgia in the United States. He can play both small or power forward position. He is one of the few players from Montenegro who successfully completed all 4 years of his basketball scholarship at a university in the United States.

Early life

Djurišić grew up in the neighborhood of Stari Aerodrom, Podgorica, and started playing basketball at age of 12, for the local basketball club Sinalco. He was persuaded to start playing basketball by his brother Boris. His childhood basketball idol was Vlade Divac and as a kid he loved watching Yugoslavian national basketball team, which was a powerhouse during the 1990s and early 2000s. After taking his first basketball steps in Sinalco, Djurišić joined the youth academy of KK Budućnost Podgorica, where he gained an audience with several scouts.^[1]

High School

After completing first 2 years of high school in Podgorica Djurišić got an offer to finish his high school overseas, in South Kent School, and be part of their basketball team. Despite his lack of English at the time he managed to prove himself well both as a basketball player and as a student, which led to him deciding to pursue basketball scholarship at a college in the US. In his two seasons during which he played for South Kent Djurišić averaged 20.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. During his high school years Djurišić also made appearances for Montenegrin national basketball team at FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship.

College career

Freshman year

In 2011 Djurišić enrolled at the University of Georgia and was immediately recognized as skillful basketball player by the coaching staff. In his freshman year for the Bulldogs Djurišić started in 12 games at the power forward position, including four of the last five games of the season.

Sophomore year

In 2011-12 season Djurišić had team's only double-double of the season in SEC Tourney win over Miss. State. During his sophomore year Djurišić gained more playing minutes and had scores a career-high 21 points against Florida A&M.

Junior year

In 2013-14 Djurišić had a breakthrough year and was a key player from the bench for the Bulldogs. During junior year he was team's best 3-point shooter, in terms of percentage. He set a new career-high, with 22 points in a win against South Carolina.

Senior year

During his senior year Djurišić became one of team's top players and a regular starter. In a game against Tennessee, he became the 44th player in UGA history to reach 1,000 career points. Djurišić scored 35 points in two games vs. #1-ranked Kentucky, including team-high 18 at home against the Wildcats. He nearly had a triple-double in Georgia’s win over Fla. Atlantic, with 8 pts., 10 rebs. and a career-best 8 assists (no UGA player has ever recorded a triple-double). Djurišić is one of just 19 players in UGA history to score 1,000 points and pull down 500 rebounds.^[2]

College statistics

Professional career

Stelmet Zielona Góra

In August 2015 Djurišić signed a one-year contract with Stelmet Zielona Góra. He averaged 5.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in Euroleague. In July 2016 Djurišić re-signed with the team for one more year. ^{[4] [5]}

National team

In September 2016 Djurišić helped Montenegro's basketball team reach Eurobasket 2017, through qualifiers, averaging 9.7 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. He scored a game-high 17 points in Montenegro's only loss of the qualifiers, against Georgia.^[6]

Personal life

Djurišić majored in International relations and affairs at UGA. His parents, Snezana and Ranko Djurišić, both from Montenegro, took part in their first-ever UGA game on 28 February 2015 on the occasion of their first visit to the US and participated as well in the Senior Day recognition before Kentucky game on 3 March 2015. Djurišić has a sister, Jelena.

References