Aleksandar Gec ( sr-cyr, Александар Гец; 3 March 1928 – 12 April 2008) was a Serbian professional basketball player, coach and administrator. He was the first basketball star of

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

.Preminuo Aleksandar Gec, prva velika zvezda KK Crvene zvezde
/ref> He represented the

Yugoslavia national basketball team The Yugoslavia men's national basketball team ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Košarkaška reprezentacija Jugoslavije, Кошаркашка репрезентација Југославије; ; ) represented the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

internationally.

Early life

Gec spent his whole lifetime in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, where he finished his education. He went to the Third Men's Gymnasium.

Playing career

Crvena zvezda

Gec began playing basketball for

team in 1945, practically since its foundation. With Crvena zvezda he has won the eight Yugoslav National Championships in a row from 1945 until 1953.Na danasnji dan drodjen Aleksandar Gec
/ref> In July 1950, he was a member of the Zvezda squad that won an international cup tournament in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy. In the 1952 Championship Gec averaged 8.5 points per game (110 points in 13 matches). He is known for game against Proleter Zrenjanin in 1952. Four seconds before the end of the game, the score was tied when he took responsibility and scored with a shot from half court, but the crowd formed at the scorer's table and the judges ruled to overturn the point and then return the ball to his team. Gec scored winning point from the same place. After three games in the 1953 Championship Gec felt very bad. Doctors discovered serious illness of the left lung and because of that he finished his playing career with just 25.

Yugoslavia national team

As a player for the

Gec participated in 1950 World Championship and two European Championship, 1947 in Prague and 1953 in Moscow.

Coaching career

Gec become a head coach of

in 1956 where he replaced Nebojša Popović on that position. After 1959 Yugoslav League season Gec left the job. He also coached the Yugoslavia women's national team at 1956 European Women's Basketball Championship in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

Administrative career

Gec was President of Crvena zvezda during the 1970s when they won two National Championship, three Yugoslav Cups and the FIBA European Cup Winner's Cup in 1974. After an Eternal derby in which Partizan won, Partizan fans beat up the few Red Star fans in front of the police who did not intervene. Gec is required to send a protest letter to the Director of Partizan, which was also the Minister of the Interior of Serbia. Gec's Associates declined because of fear, whereupon Gec submitted the irrevocable resignation.

In popular culture

* In 2015 Serbian sports drama ''

We Will Be the World Champions ''We Will Be the World Champions'' () is a 2015 Serbian Sports film, sports drama film directed by Darko Bajić. It was one of six films shortlisted by Serbia to be their submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 88t ...

'' Gec is portrayed by Stevan Piale.Full Cast & Crew of We Will Be the World Champions
/ref>

Coaching record

Yugoslav First Basketball League

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gec, Aleksandar 1928 births 2008 deaths 1950 FIBA World Championship players Basketball players from Belgrade Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery Guards (basketball) Yugoslav men's basketball players Yugoslav basketball coaches Serbian men's basketball players Serbian men's basketball coaches KK Crvena zvezda players KK Crvena zvezda head coaches KK Crvena Zvezda executives Serbian basketball executives and administrators