Marko Oštarčević (born 25 October 1941), also credited as Marc Ostarcevic, is a French-Croatian 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.

Playing career

Ostarcevic started his playing career with his hometown team

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

. In 1959, he joined first squad. In 1961, Ostarcevic signed with Belgrade-based team Crvena zvezda for two seasons. Following his departure from Belgrade, he returns to Zadar. He was a member of the 1965 Zadar roster led by Giuseppe Gjergja and

Krešimir Ćosić Krešimir "Krešo" Ćosić (; 26 November 1948 – 25 May 1995) was a Croatian professional basketball player and coach. He was a collegiate All-American at Brigham Young University. He revolutionized basketball in Yugoslavia and was the first ...

that won the Yugoslav League title. On 2 June 1964, Ostarcevic was a member of the

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a ...

republic team in a 110–65 lost to the NBA All-Stars team in

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via the ...

. Coached by

Red Auerbach Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. As a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he led the Boston Celtics to an unprecedented champio ...

, the United States players were

Bob Cousy Robert Joseph Cousy ( , born August 9, 1928) is an American former professional basketball player. He played point guard for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963, and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969–70 season. A 13-time NBA ...

Tom Heinsohn Thomas William Heinsohn (August 26, 1934 – November 9, 2020) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and broadcaster. He was associated with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for six decades as a pl ...

, K. C. Jones,

Jerry Lucas Jerry Ray Lucas (born March 30, 1940) is an American former basketball player. He was a nationally awarded high school player, national college star at Ohio State University, and 1960 Olympic medal, gold medal Olympian and international player be ...

Bob Pettit Robert E. Lee Pettit Jr. ( ; born December 12, 1932) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association, NBA, all with the Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks (1954–1965). In ...

Oscar Robertson Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson played ...

, and

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played Center (basketball), center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was t ...

, while the Croatian team members were Gjergja, Nemanja Đurić, Dragan Kovačić,

Mirko Novosel Mirko Novosel (30 June 1938 – 20 July 2023) was a Croatian professional basketball coach and player. Playing career Novosel played club basketball, from 1952 to 1966, with Lokomotiva Zagreb (later changed to KK Cibona Zagreb). Coaching caree ...

, and Petar Skansi among others. Ostarcevic went to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1966 where he played for Racing Club France. He retired as a player at age 42, with Racing in 1983. On 21 March 1971, he recorded 64 points in a 126–99 win over Graffenstaden.

Coaching career

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

, Ostarcevic was the head coach for Racing Club France during the 1977–78 season.

Career achievements

;As basketball player: * Yugoslav League champion: 1 (with

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

) * French Second Division champion: 1 (with Racing Club France: 1977) * No. 7 retired by Paris Club France

Personal life

His brother is , a former basketball player. Nedjeljko won two Yugoslav League titles (

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

) and a

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...

(1970) with Zadar. In France, Ostarcevic was married to Claudine with whom he has three children. In 1983, Ostarcevic began a romantic relationship with a Spanish actress and presenter Norma Duval, with whom he had three children: Marc Iván (born 1984), Yelko (b. 1986), and Christian (b. 1994). Both were married on 10 February 1992 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and separated in October 2001, divorcing on 25 February 2003. In 2003, Ostarcevic was a contestant in the La Isla de los FamoS.O.S. 2, finishing at the 3rd place. In May 2019, Ostarcevic reveals that he suffers from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ostarcevic, Marc 1941 births Living people Basketball player-coaches Basketball players from Zadar Basketball players with retired numbers Croatian basketball coaches Croatian expatriate basketball people in France Croatian expatriate basketball people in Serbia Croatian expatriate basketball people in Spain Croatian men's basketball players French basketball coaches French men's basketball players French expatriate basketball people in Serbia French people of Croatian descent KK Crvena zvezda players KK Zadar players Paris Racing Basket coaches Paris Racing Basket players Shooting guards Yugoslav basketball coaches Yugoslav men's basketball players 20th-century French sportsmen