The Case For Drafting UGA’s Nemanja Djurisic

Every so often, there comes along a player that makes you fall in love with the team he plays for all over again.  My alma mater, The University of Georgia is better known for its football program than its basketball team.  Sure, UGA has had some great players star at Stegeman Coliseum over the years: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Trey Thompkins, Sundiata Gaines, and of course, Dominique Wilkins.  But it was redshirt senior PF Nemanja Djurisic of Montenegro that made me thoroughly enjoy UGA basketball for the first time.

I remember thumbing a program at Stegeman during my senior year and coming across Nemi’s profile.  It said that besides playing basketball he enjoyed watching movies and singing songs from his native homeland.  Needless to say, I was a fan of his immediately.  I knew that it was going to take some time for Djurisic to get accustomed to life in the Southeastern United States, but I could sense that he had the build of a stretch four in HC Mark Fox’s offense.

It was during conference play of his junior year (2014) that I realized that Nemi had arrived.  He was making threes from The Arch downtown.  His ball skills for a big man and impressive footwork inside led to a very strong all-around offensive game for Djurisic.  He was showing the ability to carry the Dawgs’ offense at times when PG Charles Mann wasn’t getting to the free throw line.

Playing in the vastly improved and physically demanding SEC, Nemi helped lead the 2015 Georgia Bulldogs to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011.  Although UGA lost in the Round of 64 to a Final Four team in the Michigan State Spartans, Nemi was a big reason the Dawgs were a tournament lock for nearly the entire season.

Nemanja Djurisic graduated from The University of Georgia Friday night.  While he collegiate career at UGA is over, I hope Nemi gets the opportunity to play in the NBA.  His performance against then-undefeated Kentucky at home on March 3rd had me seriously considering naming my first-born child Nemanja had the Dawgs pulled off the upset of the century in Athens.  Kind of how the late Lewis Grizzard joked about naming his fictitious son after Kevin Butler following his 60 yd field goal to beat Clemson in 1984.

Live Feed

Dawn of the Dawg

While I haven’t seen Djurisic’s name on any draft boards, I know that his offensive game fits nicely into the current era of the NBA.  Long threes, good post moves, high intelligence, some coach would definitely want those attributes right?  He’s tough as he had to go against Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns of UK and Bobby Portis of Arkansas defensively in SEC competition.  All three are NBA players without question.

Is Nemi going in the first round? No way.  But if Gregg Popovich, Mike Budenholzer, or even Doc Rivers like his game, there’s a chance Djurisic gets drafted.  If not, he’s better than half the guys on Sam Hinkie’s roster in Philadelphia.  I think Nemi would be a good fit for Brett Brown, who despite his awful record is still a good coach.  Nemi helped build Mark Fox’s UGA program into something respectable and I think Philadelphia should definitely give Djurisic at least a roster spot on their D League team.

Nemi, it’s been awesome watching you grow and blossom into a great basketball player in Athens.  Congratulations on graduating and I can’t wait to buy a Nemanja Djurisic NBA jersey.  Go Dawgs!