Aleksandar Nikolić - Misplaced Pages

Men's basketball

Representing Yugoslavia
Balkan and Central Europe Games
	1947 Albania	Team
Head Coach for Yugoslavia
FIBA World Cup
	1978 Philippines
	1963 Brazil
FIBA EuroBasket
	1977 Belgium
	1965 Soviet Union
	1963 Poland
	1961 Yugoslavia
Mediterranean Games
	1959 Lebanon

Aleksandar "Aca" Nikolić (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар "Аца" Николић; 28 October 1924 – 12 March 2000) was a Serbian professional basketball player and coach. He was also a professor at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Sport and Physical Education. He is often referred to as the Father of Yugoslav and Serbian Basketball.

Nikolić acted as a mentor to many young basketball coaches in Yugoslavia, some of whom—such as Božidar Maljković, Dušan Ivković, Bogdan Tanjević, and Željko Obradović—would go on to great professional success in their own right. Nicknamed the Professor and Iron Sergeant, Nikolić was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 1998, and into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors.

Early life

Though his parents lived in Brčko, Nikolić was born in Sarajevo, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, due to his pregnant mother, Krista, suddenly going into labour while visiting her sister in Sarajevo. Young Aleksandar enjoyed a privileged upbringing courtesy of his wealthy father, Đorđe Nikolić, who had him at the age of 62. After spending the first few years of his life in Brčko, Nikolić moved with his family to the capital Belgrade, where he would grow up.

Nikolić attended the Kralj Aleksandar Gymnasium at the Belgrade neighbourhood of Banovo Brdo. He then studied medicine and law at the University of Belgrade, graduating in 1946.

Playing career

A small forward, Nikolić played 7 seasons in the Yugoslavia Federal League, from 1945 to 1951. During his playing days, he played for the Yugoslav Army (1945), Partizan (1946), Crvena zvezda (1945, 1947–1949), Železničar Čačak and BSK Beograd (1951). He won the Yugoslav Championships in 1945 with the Yugoslav Army and in 1947, 1948, and 1949, with Crvena Zvezda. He retired as a player with BSK Beograd in 1951.

National team playing career

Nikolić was a member of the Yugoslavia national basketball team during the late 1940s, making in 10 appearances.

Coaching career

Club coaching career

After his playing career was over, Nikolić became involved with coaching, both with Serbia-based clubs, and those in Italy, notably Ignis Varese.

Yugoslavia national team

Nikolić was also the head coach of the senior Yugoslav national squad, between 1951 and 1965, and later between 1977 and 1978. During this time, he coached two future members of the FIBA Hall of Fame, in Borislav Stanković and Krešimir Ćosić. Under his leadership, Yugoslavia won the gold medals at the 1978 FIBA World Championship and the 1977 EuroBasket; silver medals at the 1963 FIBA World Championship, 1961 EuroBasket, and 1965 EuroBasket, and a bronze medal at the 1963 EuroBasket.

Death

Nikolić died on 12 March 2000, in Belgrade. He is buried in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens at Belgrade's New Cemetery. After his death, Aleksandar Nikolić Hall was named after him, in his honor.

In popular culture

In the 2015 Serbian sports drama, We Will Be the World Champions, Nikolić is portrayed by Marko Janketić.

References

^ "15 godina od smrti Profesora" [15 Years since Professor Died]. B92. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
^ Spasojević, Nina (12 March 2018). "Ekskluzivno: Nepoznati detalji o profesoru Aci Nikoliću". Koš magazin. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
Život je sjajna zajebancija;Vreme, 28 June 2012.
^ "Aleksandar Nikolić - The Professor". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
Full Cast & Crew of We Will Be the World Champions.

External links

Aleksandar Nikolić at fiba.basketball
Aleksandar Nikolić at hoophall.com
Aleksandar Nikolić at leagabasket.it (in Italian)
Sećanje na slavnog Profesora at mondo.rs (in Serbian)

Links to related articles

KK Partizan head coaches

Božo Grkinić (1946–1948)
Svetislav Šaper (1948–1949)
Janoš Gerdov (1949–1950)
Borislav Stanković (1950–1953)
Miodrag Stefanović (1953–1954)
Mirko Marjanović (1954–1958)
Aleksandar Nikolić (1958–1961)
Božidar Munćan (1961–1963)
Milenko Novaković (1963–1964)
Borislav Ćurčić (1964–1967)
Branislav Rajačić (1967–1969)
Radovan Radović (1969–1971)
Ranko Žeravica (1971–1974)
Borislav Ćorković (1974–1976)
Ranko Žeravica (1976–1978)
Dušan Ivković (1978–1980)
Borislav Ćorković (1980–1982)
Borislav Džaković (1982–1984)
Zoran Slavnić (1984–1985)
Vladislav Lučić (1985–1986)
Duško Vujošević (1986–1989)
Dejan Srzić (1989)
Borislav Ćorković (1989–1990)
Duško Vujošević (1990–1991)
Željko Obradović (1991–1993)
Željko Lukajić (1993–1994)
Borislav Džaković (1994–1995)
Ranko Žeravica (1995–1996)
Miroslav Nikolić (1996–1998)
Milovan Bogojević (1998)
Vladislav Lučić (1998–1999)
Nenad Trajković (1999–2000)
Darko Ruso (2000–2001)
Duško Vujošević (2001–2010)
Vlada Jovanović (2010–2012)
Duško Vujošević (2012–2015)
Petar Božić (2015–2016)
Aleksandar Džikić (2016–2017)
Miroslav Nikolić (2017)
Nenad Čanak (2017–2018)
Andrea Trinchieri (2018–2020)
Vlado Šćepanović (2020)
Milivoje Lazić (2020)
Sašo Filipovski (2020–2021)
Aleksandar Matović (2021)
Željko Obradović (2021–present)

OKK Beograd head coaches

Mioljub Denić (1946–1948)
Radomir Putnik (1949)
Mihajlo Krnić (1950–1951)
Aleksandar Nikolić (1952)
Strahinja Alagić (1953)
Borislav Stanković (1954–1961)
Aleksandar Nikolić (1962–1963)
Borislav Stanković (1964–1965)
Slobodan Ivković (1966–1967)
Todor Lazić (1967–1968)
Borivoje Cenić (1968–1969)
Borislav Stanković (1969–1970)
Borivoje Cenić (1970–1971)
Branislav Rajačić (1971)
Borivoje Cenić (1971–1972)
Todor Lazić (1972–1975)
Branislav Rajačić (1975–1979)
Slobodan Ivković (1979–1980)
Branislav Rajačić (1980)
Slobodan Ivković (1980–1981)
Petar Marković (1981)
Slobodan Ivković (1981–1982)
Duško Vujošević (1982–1983)
Vojislav Vezović (1983–1984)
Dragoljub Pljakić (1984–1986)
Životije Ranković (1986–1987)
Zdravko Rajačić (1987–1989)
Veselin Matić (1989–1990)
Marijan Novović (1990–1991)
Gordan Todorović (1991–1992)
Vojislav Vezović (1992)
Rajko Žižić (1992–1994)
Gordan Todorović (1994)
Igor Kokoškov (1994–1995)
Ivan Jeremić (1995)
Zoran Prelević (1995–1996)
Slobodan Nikolić (1996–1999)
Vladimir Jokanović (1999–2001)
Predrag Jaćimović (2001–2002)
Nenad Vučinić (2002–2003)
Jovica Antonić (2003)
Luka Pavićević (2003–2004)
Dejan Mijatović (2004–2006)
Slobodan Nikolić (2006–2007)
Marko Ičelić (2007–2011)
Vlade Đurović (2011–2012)
Srđan Jeković (2012–2013)
Vlade Đurović (2013)
Milovan Stepandić (2013–2015)
Vlade Đurović (2015–2016)
Darko Kostić (2016–2018)
Branislav Vićentić (2018–2019)
Branko Milisavljević (2019–2020)
Branislav Ratkovica (2020–2021)
Vasilije Budimić (2021–2022)
Vule Avdalović (2022–present)

Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.

KK Crvena zvezda head coaches

Nebojša Popović (1946–1955)
Aleksandar Gec (1956–1959)
Milan Bjegojević (1960–1970)
Đorđe Andrijašević (1970–1971)
Bratislav Đorđević (1971–1973)
Aleksandar Nikolić (1973–1974)
Nemanja Đurić (1974–1976)
Strahinja Alagić (1976)
Bratislav Đorđević (1976–1979)
Dragiša Vučinić # (1979)
Mile Protić # (1979)
Ranko Žeravica (1979–1986)
Vlade Đurović (1986–1988)
Zoran Slavnić (1988–1991)
Duško Vujošević (1991–1992)
Vladislav Lučić (1992–1994)
Veselin Matić # (1994)
Zoran Slavnić (1994–1995)
Mihailo Uvalin # (1995)
Borislav Džaković (1995–1996)
Mihailo Pavićević (1996–1997)
Ranko Žeravica (1997)
Tom Ludwig (1997)
Vladislav Lučić (1997–1998)
Mihailo Pavićević (1998)
Borislav Džaković (1998)
Jovica Antonić (1998–1999)
Momir Milatović # (1999)
Vladislav Lučić (1999–2000)
Stevan Karadžić (2000–2001)
Miroslav Nikolić (2001)
Zoran Krečković (2001–2002)
Miroslav Nikolić (2002)
Aleksandar Trifunović (2002–2003)
Zmago Sagadin (2003–2004)
Aleksandar Trifunović (2004–2005)
Dragan Šakota (2005–2007)
Stevan Karadžić (2007–2008)
Milan Škobalj # (2008)
Svetislav Pešić (2008–2009)
Aleksandar Petrović (2009)
Aleksandar Trifunović (2009–2010)
Mihailo Uvalin (2010–2011)
Saša Nikitović (2011)
Svetislav Pešić (2011–2012)
Milivoje Lazić (2012)
Vlada Vukoičić (2012–2013)
Dejan Radonjić (2013–2017)
Dušan Alimpijević (2017–2018)
Milenko Topić # (2018)
Milan Tomić (2018–2019)
Andrija Gavrilović # (2019)
Dragan Šakota (2019–2020)
Saša Obradović (2020)
Dejan Radonjić (2020–2022)
Vladimir Jovanović (2022)
Duško Ivanović (2022–2023)
Ioannis Sfairopoulos (2023–present)

Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.

v t e EuroLeague's 50 Greatest Contributors (2008)
35 players	Fragiskos Alvertis Sergei Belov Miki Berkovich Dejan Bodiroga Wayne Brabender Juan Antonio Corbalán Krešimir Ćosić Mike D'Antoni Dražen Dalipagić Saša Danilović Mirza Delibašić Vlade Divac Saša Đorđević Nikos Galis Manu Ginóbili Šarūnas Jasikevičius Radivoj Korać Toni Kukoč Clifford Luyk Pierlo Marzorati Bob McAdoo Dino Meneghin Bob Morse Aldo Ossola Theo Papaloukas Anthony Parker Dražen Petrović Dino Rađa Manolo Raga Antonello Riva Emiliano Rodríguez Arvydas Sabonis J.A. San Epifanio "Epi" Walter Szczerbiak Sr. Panagiotis Giannakis
10 coaches	Pedro Ferrándiz Pini Gershon Alexander Gomelsky Dušan Ivković Božidar Maljković Ettore Messina Aca Nikolić Željko Obradović Dan Peterson Lolo Sainz
5 referees	Artenik Arabadjian Mikhail Davidov Ľubomír Kotleba Yvan Mainini Costas Rigas

v t e Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 1998
Players	Larry Bird Marques Haynes Arnie Risen
Coach	Jody Conradt Alex Hannum Aleksandar Nikolić Lenny Wilkens

Members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

Players

Guards	R. Allen Archibald Barnett Beckman Belov Billups Bing Blazejowski Borgmann Braun Brennan Bryant Carter Cervi Cheeks Clayton Cooper-Dyke Cousy Dampier Davies Drexler Dumars Edwards Endacott Frazier Friedman Galis Gervin Ginóbili Goodrich Greer Grentz Guerin Hammon Hanson Hardaway Haynes Holman Hyatt Isaacs Iverson Jeannette Jenkins D. Johnson M. Johnson K. Jones S. Jones Jordan Kidd Lieberman Maravich Marcari Marčiulionis Martin McDermott McGrady D. McGuire Meyers R. Miller Moncrief Monroe Moore C. Murphy Nash Page Parker Payton Petrović Phillip Posey Richmond Robertson Rodgers Roosma J. Russell Schommer Scott Sedran Sharman K. Smith Staley Steinmetz Stockton Swoopes Thomas D. Thompson Timms Vandivier Wade Wanzer Weatherspoon West Westphal Whalen J. White Wilkens Woodard Wooden
Forwards	Arizin Augustus Barkley Barry Baylor Bird Bosh Boswell Bradley R. Brown Cash Catchings C. Cooper M. Cooper Cunningham Curry Dalipagić Dandridge Dantley Davis DeBusschere Dehnert Duncan English Erving Foster Fulks Gale Garnett Gasol Gates Gola Hagan Havlicek Hawkins Hayes Haywood Heinsohn Hill Howell Hudson L. Jackson G. Johnson B. Jones King Korać Kukoč Lucas Luisetti K. Malone McClain B. McCracken J. McCracken McGinnis McHale Mikkelsen C. Miller Mullin Nowitzki Pettit Pierce Pippen Pollard Pullins Radja Ramsey Rodman Schayes E. Schmidt O. Schmidt Stokes C. Thompson T. Thompson Twyman Walker Webber N. White Wilkes Wilkins Worthy Yardley
Centers	Abdul-Jabbar Barlow Beaty Bellamy Chamberlain T. Cooper Ćosić Cowens Crawford Daniels DeBernardi Divac Donovan Ewing Gallatin Gilmore Griffith Gruenig Harris-Stewart Houbregs Issel Jackson W. Johnson Johnston M. Krause Kurland Lanier Leslie Lovellette Lapchick Macauley Maciel M. Malone McAdoo Meneghin Mikan Mourning S. Murphy Mutombo Olajuwon O'Neal Parish Reed Risen Robinson B. Russell Sabonis Sampson Semjonova Sikma Thurmond Unseld Wachter Wallace Walton Washington Yao

FIBA Hall of Fame inductees

FIBA
Members