01/12/2016
David Hein's Eye on the Future
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Education-thinking Europeans risk lack of national team exposure in USA

REGENSBURG (David Hein's Eye on the Future) - The FIBA U18 European Championship 2016 will start in about two weeks and one player who thinks he belongs in the competition has no chance of being there.

Serbian forward Milos Apic is an unknown commodity - in a far-off land hoping the United States helps him improve his future on and off the court. But being so far away also means no connection or communication with the Serbian basketball federation since his arrival in suburban Washington DC in June 2015.

"It's disappointing because I think I can play better than some players in the Serbian national team right now - either U18 or U20," said the 1998-born Apic, who is a senior at Sandy Spring Friends School.

Apic's desire to play for his homeland grew this summer when he watched Serbia take the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"Watching the Olympic team play against the United States, I felt really great and I wanted to be in their place at some point in my life."

Don't mistake this column as a plea to the Serbian federation (KSS) to nominate Apic for the FIBA U18 European Championship 2016. The KSS did nothing wrong. That's not what I'm saying.

But who's to say that Apic couldn't play there?

It would seem that any team could use a 6ft 10in (2.08m) player who can play all five positions, who can shoot, dribble, post up and pass. That's at least what Apic says he can do.

He was selected as a DC All-Metropolitan honorable mention last winter, averaging 18.4 points for the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference champions, including a game with 26 points, 10 rebounds, 6 steals and 5 assists. In his most recent game, Apic collected 28 points and 7 rebounds. 

The native of the town of Odzaci near Novi Sad in northern Serbia models his game after Kevin Durant, Kristaps Porzingis and Jabari Parker.

"I'm trying to be a swingman who can do anything on the court," says Apic, who moved to Novi Sad when he was about 12 years old and played at the Sport's World Novi Sad, the youth academy where Darko Milicic and Milenko Tepic began their careers.

 

Apic is working on his strength, decision-making and ball-handling. But the lack of communication between the KSS and Apic is a natural consequence for a growing trend in European basketball - and one for which neither the player nor the federation should be blamed.

The number of male Serbians heading to the United States to play college basketball has increased 68 percent from 2012 to 2016. And the report does not even include Serbs like Apic going to the United States for high school.

Apic - and many of his ilk - make the tough decision to leave their families and move to the United States because opportunities in Serbia are dwindling and the education in the US is much better.

"There are tough times in Serbia. It's a pretty poor country and a lot of people are trying to get out. I wanted to get a better education and start a better life," said Apic, who will finish his high school in the spring of 2017.

It's not just a problem in Serbia. European powerhouses like Italy and Spain are also seeing increases in the number of youngsters - including more and more elite talent - fleeing the country for the United States and its combination of basketball and education.

At the same time, Apic is alone in the world of international basketball, an unknown who was in a U15 Serbian national team camp before leaving for the States but now basically seems to be in out-of-sight, out-of-mind status.

When asked if he would play for Serbia at the 2017 FIBA U19 World Championship - should Serbia qualify later this month in Samsun - Apic gave an emphatic yes.

"If they invite me I would definitely play," he said. "That's not even a question."

It would possibly be difficult with timing as Apic plans on attending a US college starting next fall.

"It may be hard to organise, but if they want me, I would definitely say yes."

Apic has grown about four inches over the last four years and doctors say he's not done growing - which he believes as well as he needs to ice his knees after every practice. He already has a 7-foot wingspan and is slowly gathering attention from more and bigger colleges in the United States as he steadily improves his game.

But Milos Apic - and other Europeans like him in the United States not garnering attention - will have to accept watching the FIBA U18 European Championship as an unknown in a far-off land thinking he could play at that level.

David Hein

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.

David Hein

David Hein

Walk into the media tribune of any major basketball event and there's a good chance you will come across David Hein. Having covered dozens of FIBA events, including numerous women's and youth events, there are few players Dave doesn't know about, and few players who don't know him. His sporting curiosity means he is always looking to unearth something new and a little bit special. David Hein's Eye on the Future is a weekly column digging out the freshest basketball talent worldwide and assessing what the basketball landscape will look like a couple of years down the line.