BARCELONA (Euroleague/EuroBasket) - Ante Tomic is in the prime of his career.

When it ends one day, though, he’ll look back and remember that he did something a lot of players wouldn’t dream of attempting.

The Croatian will reflect on his time as a stalwart for Real Madrid, and Barcelona.

"It's nothing strange to change a club, but it's a bit different to go from Real Madrid to Barcelona,” Tomic said to FIBA.com.

The 2.17m center left long-time club KK Zagreb in the 2009-10 campaign for Real Madrid and then spent two full seasons with the team.

In the summer of 2012, though, Tomic joined the enemy.

With centers Boniface Ndong, Fran Vasquez and Kosta Perovic having left Barcelona for pastures new, the club needed a big man and lured the 25-year-old Tomic from the Spanish capital to Catalonia.

"It's a bit strange to do that, especially here in Spain, but I'm really enjoying it and I'm really happy here," he said.

Barcelona are certainly happy to have Tomic, who had 15 points and a game-high valuation of 21 in their Euroleague Top 16 victory at Besiktas on Thursday night.

When the big man got the ball, he had success, making seven of his eight shots from the floor.

During the Euroleague Regular Season, Tomic averaged 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds but in four Top 16 games, those numbers have increased to 14.5 and 8.3.

Croatia and World Cup

Tomic didn’t feature for Croatia's national team last summer, but they still won all eight of their Qualification Round games for EuroBasket 2013.

Will Tomic return to the fold this summer?

"Yes, of course," Tomic said.

And will this be a good Croatia team?

"I hope so," he said, "because it's a great opportunity for us to do something big in a great competition."

There is another important question.

No one knows who will be in charge of the national team.

Jasmin Repesa coached Croatia last year but then took the reins of Unicaja Malaga.

In Spain, club coaches are not supposed to lead national teams although on 24 December, Russia announced that Bilbao Basket boss Fotis Katsikaris had replaced David Blatt as coach.

Katsikaris says the plan is for him to return to his Bilbao job after the EuroBasket.

Tomic knows it's crucial for Croatia to have the right man in charge when they begin their preparations for Slovenia.

"Yes, it matters," he said.

"I suppose Repesa is going to be the coach, but I really don't know."

One reason why Tomic wants to be at the EuroBasket is that it will serve as a qualifying tournament for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

"Our (Croatia's) goal is to be in all great competitions, to be at the World Championship or now the World Cup, and I hope so, the Olympic Games - that's my main desire," he said.

FIBA