Jurij "Jure" Zdovc (born 13 December 1966) is a Slovenian former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player and coach. He was most recently the head coach of

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği, commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkey, Turkish professional sports club based in the city of Bursa. Founded in 1963, the club is best known for its football team, which has a rich history in Football in Turkey, Turk ...

of the Turkish

Basketbol Süper Ligi The Basketball Super League (; TBSL), also known as the Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional basketball division of the Turkish basketball league system. It replaced the former Turkish Bas ...

(BSL). As a player, he was a tall

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

, who began his professional playing career with the Yugoslav Second Division club Smelt Olimpija. During his playing career, he was a three-time member of the FIBA European Selection, in the years 1990 and 1991 (twice), and a

FIBA EuroStar FIBA EuroStars was an annual All-Star Game showcase of the sport of European professional club basketball. It was organized by FIBA Europe. Commonly considered to be the European equivalent of the NBA All-Star Game, the FIBA EuroStars Game featu ...

selection, in 1996. He also represented both the senior Yugoslav national team, and the senior Slovenian national team. He was inducted into the Slovenian Athletes Hall of Fame in 2015. He was inducted into the

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA in 1991. Originally built in ...

in 2020. As a basketball coach, Zdovc received the EuroCup Coach of the Year award in 2012, while he was the head coach of the Russian club Spartak Saint Petersburg.

Playing career

Club career

As a junior level player, Zdovc began his playing career with Comet

Slovenske Konjice Slovenske Konjice (; , in older sources also ''Gannobitz'') is a town in northeastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Slovenske Konjice. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Styria, Styria. History and town sights ...

. He also played with the junior teams of Smelt Olimpija. During his senior men's pro club career, he played with the following teams: the senior men's team of Smelt Olimpija, Knorr Bologna,

Limoges CSP Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges. History The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became t ...

, Iraklis Thessaloniki, Helios Suns, PSG Racing, Tofaş, Panionios Athens, Geoplin Slovan, and Split CO. With the French club

, Zdovc won the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

's 1992–93 season championship, and he was voted to the EuroLeague All-Final Four Team. He also won the French League's 1992–93 season championship, while playing with Limoges. In 1997, as a Paris Racing player, he also won the French League championship. While playing with Union Olimpija, Zdovc won two Slovenian Premier League championships, and three Slovenian Cups. With the same club, he also won the 2001–02 season's championship of the

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, ...

, and he was voted the 2002 Adriatic League Final Four MVP. With Split Croatia, he won the 2003 Croatian Premier League championship.

Yugoslav national team

Zdovc was a member of the senior Yugoslavia National Squad. With Yugoslavia, he won the silver medal at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics. As a member of Yugoslavia's national selection, he also won gold medals at the 1989 EuroBasket, the

1990 FIBA World Championship The 1990 FIBA World Championship was the 11th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. It was hosted by Argentina from 8 to 19 August 1990. The final phase of the competition was held at t ...

, and the 1991 EuroBasket.

Slovenian national team

As a member of the senior Slovenian national team, Zdovc played at the following major

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

international tournaments: the 1992 FIBA European Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the

1993 EuroBasket The 1993 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1993, was the 28th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Germany between 22 June and 4 July 1993. Sixteen national teams entere ...

, the

1995 EuroBasket The 1995 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1995, was the 29th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to e ...

, the

1997 EuroBasket The 1997 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1997, was the 30th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1998 FIBA World Championship, giving a ber ...

, and the 1999 EuroBasket.

Coaching career

Clubs

Zdovc first worked as a basketball coach in the 1997–98 season, with Comet Slovenske Konjice, where he worked as an assistant. That was still during his active playing career, but during a time in which he was not playing, due to a long-term injury that he suffered while he was playing with the

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

club Tofaş. After he retired from playing professional club basketball in 2003, Zdovc started his full-time

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

ing career as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the Croatian Premier League club Split Croatia. He stayed the head coach of Split Croatia until 2004, and led the team to a first-place finish in the Croatian Cup. In the 2006–07 season, he was the sports director of Union Olimpija. Zdovc also won the Bosnia and Herzegovina League championship with Bosna in 2008. In 2009, he won the Slovenian Premier League championship with Union Olimpija. Zdovc also won the Slovenian Cup title three times in a row with Union Olimpija, in the years 2009, 2010, and 2011. He also led Union Olimpija to the top Top-16 stage of the

's 2010–11 season. Zdovc was named the EuroCup Coach of the Year in 2012. On 20 December 2015, he signed a three-year contract with the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...

club

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

. He was dismissed in the role by AEK Athens, in March 2017, after his team lost a 2016–17 FIBA Champions League game against the French Pro A League club

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently ...

. On 14 June 2017, Zdovc was named as the head coach of the Croatian club Cedevita Zagreb, as he replaced

Veljko Mršić Veljko Mršić (; born 13 April 1971) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player, who is currently the head coach of the KK Split, Split of the Croatian Premijer liga (Croatian basketball), Premijer liga and the ABA League. P ...

in that role. He was later sacked by the club on 6 June 2018. On 7 May 2020, Zdovc signed on to be the head coach of the

Metropolitans 92 Metropolitans 92 is a French professional basketball club that is based in Levallois-Perret, in the Paris metropolitan area. The club currently plays in the LNB Pro A, the French basketball league system, highest-tier level in French basketball. ...

of the French

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

. Zdovc worked with Žalgiris Kaunas in the 2021–2022 season, though had a very tumultuous season, resigning in April. With Žalgiris, Zdovc won the 2022 King Mindaugas Cup. On 7 July 2023 he signed with

of the Turkish

(BSL). On 16 January 2024 Zdovc and

parted ways.

National teams

In 2009, Zdovc was named the head coach of the senior men's Slovenian national team. He guided Slovenia to a fourth-place finish at the 2009 EuroBasket. In 2014, Zdovc returned to coach Slovenia, after signing a three-year contract to coach the team. He coached Slovenia at the 2014 FIBA World Cup, and the 2015 EuroBasket.

Head coaching record

EuroLeague

ZDOVC, JURE Career Record EuroLeague.
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