ALEKSANDAR NIKOLIĆ - FATHER OF YUGOSLAV AND SERBIAN BASKETBALL

BIJELJINA, OCTOBER 27 /SRNA/ - Serbian coach Aleksandar Nikolić, the founder of the dominant Serbian and Yugoslav school of basketball and the most important figure in 20th-century European basketball, was born in Sarajevo on October 28, 1924.

He began playing basketball in 1946 and played for several teams, including Crvena Zvezda and Partizan.

Nikolić played 11 games for the Yugoslav national team. In 1951 he became head coach of Yugoslavia, leading the team to its first medals at the 1961 European Championship and the 1963 World Championship, and later to the European title in 1977 and the world title in 1978.

In basketball circles he was most often called the Professor. He was the mentor of a whole generation of Serbian coaches whose teams went on to monopolize European club titles.

In 1969, Nikolić took over Ignis Varese, winning three national championships, three European titles, three Italian Cups and two Intercontinental Cups.

That team has often been named the best in the history of Italian and European basketball. Nikolić then returned home as head coach of Crvena Zvezda, winning the Cup Winners' Cup, still the greatest achievement in the club's history.

After 11 years away from the Yugoslav national team, Nikolić returned in 1976 and led the team at the 1977 European Championship and the 1978 World Championship, winning gold at both.

In the summer of 1991, Nikolić returned to Partizan as an adviser to the club's new coach, Željko Obradović, who was just starting his coaching career.

That partnership brought Partizan the triple crown in the 1991/92 season: the Yugoslav Championship, the Yugoslav Cup and, most importantly, the EuroLeague, the biggest trophy ever won by a Serbian club, in a historic triumph at the Final Four in Istanbul.

For his enormous contribution to the game, Nikolić was inducted in 1998 into the famous Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, the birthplace of basketball.

In his honor, the Pionir hall in Belgrade bears his name.

He also coached two future Hall of Fame members - Borislav Stanković and Krešimir Ćosić.

Aleksandar Nikolić died in 2000 and was buried in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens at Belgrade's New Cemetery.