WEST LAFAYETTE — The day before Sasha Stefanovic left the United States to try out for Serbia’s under-20 national team, family members gathered at his house to wish him well.
Part of that group was his grandfather Zoran Stefanovic, who was born in Aleksinac, Serbia, and immigrated to the Region in 1970.
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“He told me how proud he was of me, how much he loved me and how much I was going to enjoy it there,” Sasha Stefanovic said of his grandfather. “I know it made him super happy for me to make my first trip over there and see where my family’s from.”
A week later on June 9, Sasha Stefanovic, Crown Point’s career scoring leader and a redshirt freshman at Purdue, learned he had made the first cut for the team scheduled to compete in next month’s FIBA U-20 European Championships in Germany.
Later that night, he and his father, Lou — a former Merrillville and Illinois State star who was born in Serbia and also made the trip — received word Zoran Stefanovic had died.
The following day, Sasha and Lou Stefanovic took the next available flight home.
“It hurt me to leave just because I know how much it meant to him to see me play in that Serbia uniform,” Sasha Stefanovic said of his grandfather. “To see how full of pride he was when I was leaving, it hurts. But I know he’s in a better place. It was just unexpected. It was tough on my family.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know what would have happened if I would’ve made it. But I made the first cut, anything could’ve happened after that.”
Stefanovic and his father had arrived in Belgrade and the two stayed in Serbia’s capital city for a night. As Lou Stefanovic went to visit his hometown, where numerous family members still live, Sasha took a bus with the team to its camp in the mountainous region of Zlatibor. Lou Stefanovic joined Sasha for his last two days of camp.
The team practiced three hours each day in the morning and another three at night, with sessions including running and weight training.
The workouts fit nicely with points of emphasis this summer for Stefanovic, a 6-foot-4 guard.
“I’ve been working on my body, trying to get stronger, more flexible, faster and quicker on the court,” Sasha Stefanovic said. “I’m trying to become a better defender and be able to guard multiple positions.”
As Stefanovic prepares for his first active season with the Boilermakers, he’s also scheduled for an August trip to Venice, Italy, with USA East Coast. That team, composed of college players and coached by Hall of Famer Larry Brown, is expected to play teams from Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.
Stefanovic was looking forward to his first regular-season games with Purdue.
“I’ve only been here a short couple of days, but we have a really tremendous energy so far,” he said Wednesday a summer team workout. “We have to get into the swing of things and introduce the young guys to what we do.
“I got some experience last year, and I’m trying to become a vocal leader. The coaches tell me I have to communicate more on the court. I learned a lot from the seniors, how to be a leader and go about your business.”