VOLS

Goodnews,:Vols Sign All-AAC Designee Igor Milicic Jr.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – University of Tennessee head men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes announced Thursday the signing of Charlotte transfer forward Igor Miličić Jr.

The 2023-24 Third Team All-AAC selection will join the Volunteers in 2024-25 for his final season of collegiate eligibility.

“We are happy that Igor has chosen to become a Volunteer. Barnes stated, “He is a gifted player who has benefited from outstanding coaching throughout his career, both in college and in Europe. One of the best coaches he has had is his father, Igor Sr. We believe Igor’s strong, distinctive, and well-honed skill set will translate well to the SEC. He is a versatile competitor. He has a lot of potential and is a fantastic defensive rebounder and 3-point shooter. With the Polish National Team, Igor has gained priceless international experience, and as a college student, he has gotten better every year. We think he’ll blend right in at Tennessee, on and off the court.”

A 6-foot-10, 225-pounder, Miličić comes to Rocky Top after two years at Charlotte and one at Virginia. He possesses career averages of 8.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, across 82 appearances, with 52 of them starts.

Miličić is a career 47.6 percent shooter from the field, including boasting a stellar 35.8 percent mark beyond the arc. He has scored in double figures 31 times, notching 15-plus points on 15 occasions and 20-plus four times. In addition, he has 14 double-digit rebounding performances and 11 double-doubles.

A native of Rovinj, Croatia, Miličić is coming off the best season of his career in 2023-24, as he put up 12.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 blocks per game over 31 outings, 30 of which he started. He shot a strong 48.7 percent from the floor, including 37.6 percent on 4.8 3-point attempts per game, as well as 81.8 percent at the free-throw line.

Twenty of Miličic’s double-figure point totals came in 2023-24, including 12 of his 15-point showings and three of his four 20-point displays. He dropped a career-best 26 points on 7-of-11 shooting on March 6, 2024, against Rice, adding 10 rebounds in the win.

All but one of Miličic’s collegiate double-doubles came during his junior campaign with the 49ers, as did all but two of his double-digit rebounding totals. He hit multiple 3-pointers 17 times, with three-plus in nine affairs. His play helped Charlotte finish 19-12, including 13-5 in AAC action, good for third place.

Miličic posted an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double against a Big 12 school, UCF, on Nov. 20, 2023, in St. Augustine, Fla. Just 19 days later, he amassed eight points, six rebounds and four blocks on the road at Duke. He was one of just seven players to block four shots versus the Blue Devils in 2023-24 and one of two to do so in Durham, N.C., alongside Virginia’s Ryan Dunn. Over the last four seasons, 2020-24, Miličic is one of only two non-Power Six players to reach that mark against Duke, joining USC Upstate’s Seny N’diaye over 12 months prior, on Nov. 11, 2022.

The 12 double-doubles for Miličic in 2023-24 put him fourth in the AAC. He placed second in the league and No. 23 nationally in defensive rebounding at 7.0 per contest. Additionally, Miličic finished fourth in the AAC in Rebounding, free-throw %, blocks per game, 3-point percentage, field goal percentage, minutes average, and 3-point percentage rank them ninth, tenth, and fifteenth, respectively (32.21).

Along with Quinten Post of Boston College (Second Team All-ACC) and Jacob Crews of UT-Martin (First Team All-OVC), Miličic was one of just two Division I players in 2023–24 to average at least 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game on 48/37/81 shooting splits. Only Post and Miličic stopped one or more shots every game.

Miličic finished the previous season at No. 49 in true shooting percentage (63.7) and No. 41 nationally in defensive rebounding percentage (25.4), according to KenPom.

During his rookie season in Charlotte in 2022–2023; Miličic averaged 7.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. His 35 appearances, 22 of which he started, helped the 49ers to a 22-14 record—their most wins since 2000–01—and a fifth-place finish in the CUSA at 9–11. On December 10, 2022, against Detroit Mercy, Miličic recorded a double-double with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and ten times he scored in double figures.

In his first 16 games as a college player at Virginia in 2021–2022, Miličic averaged 2.1 points per game. On November 19, 2021, he scored 11 points against Coppin State. The Cavaliers finished 21-14 and with a 12-8 record, sixth in the ACC.

A graduate of ProGenius Ulm in Germany, Miličic played for Orange Academy Ratiopharm, a ProA team in Germany, before matriculating to Charlottesville, Va. A citizen of both Croatia and Poland, Miličic debuted for the Polish National Team in Feb. 2020 during FIBA EuroBasket qualifying competition.

Miličic’s father is Igor Miličic Sr., who played professional basketball for 20 years, from 1993 to 2013, and then went into coaching in 2014. He has served as the head coach of the Polish National Team since Oct. 2021 and as the head coach of GeVi Napoli Basket, a Serie A team that he led to the 2023-24 Italian Cup title, since June 2023. Among his many achievements were three Polish Cups as a player and two as a coach.

A player from Croatia will be joining the Volunteers for the first time. Three former Tennessee letter winners—Uroš Plavšić (Serbia; 2019–23), Yves Pons (France; 2017–21), and Olivier Nkamhoua (Finland; 2019–23)—all played for Barnes and are from other European countries.

Along with big Felix Okpara from Ohio State and guard Darlinstone Dubar from Hofstra, Miličic is the third transfer going to Tennessee in 2024–2025. In addition, Bishop Boswell, a guard out of high school, will join the Volunteers.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button