The Serbian Szczerbiak?

[Captain Kangaroo]

The University of Akron basketball team recently received a verbal commitment for Serbian-born Nikola Cventinovic (Ven-TIN-o-vich). Nikola came to the United States 1 ½ years ago and is beginning his second year at Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg Virginia.While possessing a nice outside touch, the 6’ 7” 225lb forward isn’t your typical Euro player. His strength lies in his role as a banger. Projected to play power forward for the Zips beginning in the fall of 2008, he’s extremely intelligent and a vocal floor leader who excels on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. And, he can throw down a mean dunk!A former soccer standout, Nikola already possesses some advanced footwork. Active, aggressive, frequently diving for loose balls…he’s certainly from a different mold than the Zips last Euro recruit, the immortal Klaus Zollner.How’d this youngster from the former Yugoslavia get to Akron? Was KD scouring the rugged Serpian terrain in search of the MAC's next Szczerbiak? Not quite.The Zips were apparently recruiting a teammate of Nikola’s. As occasionally happens, when you watch tapes of one player, a teammate unexpectedly catches your eye. While recruiting Virginia Episcopal’s Brian Irwin (sp?), it seemed the more tape and performances that were reviewed, the more Nikola stood out.Euro kids typically take a year or more to adjust to the more physical style of play we see “state-side.” Learning the American game as a Junior last year, he was still amongst his team’s leaders in most statistical categories. 12.5ppg, 6rpg and 2 steals/game. If you look as Virginia Episcopal’s roster, where most graduates earn college scholarships...many to major conferences, that’s pretty impressive. Nikola played his AAU ball for East Coast Scholar Athletes. Most of their games were in the south, hence he received heavy recruiting interest from such schools as Appalachian State, Davidson and Eastern Kentucky. And Vermont(?).Nikola dropped his soccer aspirations for his senior season and is solely focusing on basketball. Look for him to take his hoops game to another level this year...and then it's off to the JAR for the 2008 debut of "The Serbian Szczerbiak!"