 Marić playing forPartizan in December 2009 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1984-10-22)22 October 1984 (age 41) Sydney,New South Wales, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian / Serbian |
| Listed height | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) |
| Listed weight | 275 lb (125 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Life Center Academy (Burlington, New Jersey) |
| College | Nebraska (2004–2008) |
| NBA draft | 2008:undrafted |
| Playing career | 2008–2017 |
| Position | Center |
| Coaching career | 2019–2020 |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 2008–2009 | Granada |
| 2009–2010 | Partizan |
| 2010–2012 | Panathinaikos |
| 2012–2014 | Lokomotiv Kuban |
| 2014 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 2014–2015 | Galatasaray Liv Hospital |
| 2015 | Petrochimi Bandar Imam |
| 2015 | Gran Canaria |
| 2015–2016 | Budućnost Podgorica |
| 2016 | Obradoiro |
| 2016–2017 | Sydney Kings |
| 2017 | Obradoiro |
| 2017 | Al-Muharraq |
Coaching | |
| 2019–2020 | Sydney Kings (assistant) |
| Career highlights | |
| |
Aleksandar "Aleks" Marić (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар "Алекс" Марић; born 22 October 1984) is an Australian-Serbian former professionalbasketball player. Marić gained a reputation as a winner over the course of his successful European career, securing contracts with several basketball powerhouse outfits. Rising to stardom atPartizan Belgrade in 2010, he was part of a Serbian Cup and Adriatic League championship winning team, as well as anAll-EuroLeague First Team member. That breakout season earned him selection to theAustralian national team for the 2010 World Championships and the 2012 London Olympics. In 2019, he became an assistant coach with theSydney Kings.
Marić began playing basketball as a youth in Sydney before attending theAustralian Institute of Sport. He played high school basketball in the United States atLife Center Academy inBurlington, New Jersey. He then playedcollege basketball at theUniversity of Nebraska with theNebraska Cornhuskers from 2004 to 2008, where he was named second-team All-Big 12 Conference in both 2007 and 2008.[1]
| College | Year[2] | GP | GS | MIN | SPG | BPG | RPG | APG | PPG | FG% | FT% | 3P% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nebraska | 2004–05 | 27 | 10 | 20.8 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 6.3 | 0.5 | 8.0 | .479 | .716 | .000 |
| Nebraska | 2005–06 | 31 | 26 | 25.3 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 8.1 | 1.2 | 10.9 | .472 | .611 | .000 |
| Nebraska | 2006–07 | 30 | 30 | 28.8 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 8.7 | 0.8 | 18.5 | .565 | .681 | .300 |
| Nebraska | 2007–08 | 33 | 33 | 29.3 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 10.2 | 1.9 | 15.7 | .575 | .657 | .167 |
Marić began his professional career in July 2008 with theSpanish ACB League clubGranada.[3] At the end of the season, on 30 June 2009, he exercised the option in his contract and decided to leave the club.[4]
On 7 July 2009, Marić signed multi-year deal with the Serbian clubPartizan.[5] During his first season in Partizan, Marić went from the status of a relatively unknown basketball player to one of aEuroLeague star, all thanks to his great games throughout the season. In 93–92 win overEfes Pilsen in the EuroLeague, he scored 34 points, pulled 16 rebounds and had 49 performance index rating which was record of the season, along withDarjuš Lavrinovič who also had 49 in the same season. That made them 8th overall inPIR since the beginning of the2000–01 Euroleague season.[6][7] He was named to the 2009–10All-EuroLeague Team.[8] With Partizan, he managed to win the Serbian national cup trophy (theRadivoj Korać Cup), as well as theAdriatic Championship in the amazing overtime finish.[9]
On 30 July 2010, Marić signed a two-year contract with the Greek clubPanathinaikos.[10] In his first season with the club, he won theEuroLeague title in win over theMaccabi Tel Aviv.[11] Later, he won and theGreek Basket League championship. In his second season, he won the Greek basketball cup.[12]
On 27 July 2012, Marić signed with theVTB United League clubLokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar.[13][14]
On 2 September 2014, Marić signed withMaccabi Tel Aviv.[15] On 25 December 2014, he was waived by Maccabi.[16] The next day, he signed with the Turkish teamGalatasaray Liv Hospital.[17] On 3 March 2015, he left Galatasaray and signed withPetrochimi Bandar Imam of theIranian Super League.[18] On 29 April 2015, he left Petrochimi and signed with the Spanish clubGran Canaria for the rest of the2014–15 ACB season.[19]
On 3 September 2015, Marić signed with the Montenegrin clubBudućnost Podgorica for the 2015–16 season.[20] After some miserable showings in the first few games of theABA League, he led his team to an 80–61 win overTajfun with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and was subsequently named the MVP of Round 5.[21] On 4 April 2016, he left Budućnost and signed with Spanish clubRio Natura Monbus Obradoiro for the rest of the2015–16 ACB season.[22]
On 29 June 2016, Marić signed a one-year deal (with a team option for a second year) with his hometownSydney Kings of theNational Basketball League.[23][24] On 9 March 2017, Marić signed with Rio Natura Monbus Obradoiro for the rest of the2016–17 ACB season.[25]
On 26 June 2017, Marić signed withAl-Muharraq of theBahraini Premier League.[26] He played one game for the team.
With the Australian junior national team, Marić won the gold medal at the 2003FIBA Under-19 World Championship. He also played at the 2005FIBA Under-21 World Championship with Australia's junior national team.[27] Media reports emanating from Serbia stated Maric had expressed a desire to play for the seniorSerbia national basketball team, however this was later denied by Maric.[28]
Marić played for the seniorAustralia national basketball team at the2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.[29] Marić averaged 9.2 points and 4.3 rebounds over 6 games at the tournament.[30]
He also played with Australia at the2012 Olympics in London where Australia lost 119–86 in quarterfinal matchup with theUnited States.[31]
In July 2019, Marić was appointed an assistant coach by theSydney Kings.[32]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance index rating |
| Bold | Career high |
| † | Denotes season in which Marić won theEuroLeague |
| * | Led the league |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009–10 | Partizan | 18 | 9 | 25.5 | .607 | .000 | .648 | 8.4 | 1.2 | 1.2 | .6 | 14.6 | 21.1* |
| 2010–11† | Panathinaikos | 8 | 0 | 7.6 | .556 | — | .667 | 3.5 | — | .6 | .4 | 3.5 | 6.3 |
| 2011–12 | 22 | 9 | 7.1 | .673 | — | .560 | 2.5 | .1 | .5 | .1 | 3.6 | 4.9 | |
| 2013–14 | Lokomotiv Kuban | 23 | 10 | 17.2 | .602 | — | .588 | 3.6 | 1.0 | .8 | .6 | 6.1 | 8.0 |
| 2014–15 | Maccabi | 8 | 2 | 8.8 | .571 | — | 1.000 | 2.3 | .5 | .1 | .4 | 2.3 | 3.9 |
| Galatasaray | 7 | 2 | 10.0 | .385 | — | .500 | 2.9 | .7 | .1 | — | 1.7 | 2.3 | |
| Career | 86 | 32 | 14.1 | .603 | .000 | .625 | 4.1 | .7 | .7 | .4 | 6.3 | 8.9 | |
Marić was born on 22 October 1984 in the suburbLiverpool ofSydney, Australia toethnic Serb parents fromKnin,SR Croatia,SFR Yugoslavia.[33][34] He subsequently became a Serbian citizen.[35] His grandfather Stevan was killed at his home duringOperation Storm and his body was exhumed from amass grave 17 years later.[36][37]
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