Marko Pecarski ( sr-cyr, Марко Пецарски; born February 12, 2000) is a Serbian 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 for Darüşşafaka of the

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).

Early life and career

Pecarski was born in

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality by population in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coa ...

, Spain as his father Miroslav Pecarski was playing for

of the

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

. Marko grew up in his hometown

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 ...

, playing for the

Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown ...

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

. Pecarski played

Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament The Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament is an international boy's youth age basketball tournament that is contested between the best basketball clubs in Europe in the Under-18 age category. The tournament is organized by Euroleague B ...

s for the

(2013–2014) and the

Mega Leks Košarkaški klub Mega Basket ( sr-cyr, Кошаркашки клуб Мега Баскет), currently referred to as Mega Superbet for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional basketball club based in Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a founding ...

(2015–2016). In April 2016, he participated at 2016

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school all star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys and girls in the senior class. In 2015, a girl's game was introduced. Th ...

International Game. He made his debut in 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, ...

, on 2 May 2016, at the age of 16, in a home loss to

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 ...

. In January 2017, he moved to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

to play for reserve team of

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

of the German 3rd-tier level

ProB The ProB is the German basketball league system, third-tier level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 24 teams, separated into a Northern and a Southern Division. Officially, the ProB is part of ...

. In August 2017, he attended

Basketball Without Borders Basketball Without Borders is a basketball instructional camp organized by the NBA in conjunction with FIBA. It presents itself as a “basketball development and community outreach program that unites young basketball players to promote the sport ...

Europe Camp 16 in

Netanya Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...

, Israel. Also, he attended the Basketball Without Borders Global Camp in

El Segundo, California El Segundo ( , ; ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located on Santa Monica Bay, it was incorporated on January 18, 1917, and is part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. The population was 17,272 as of t ...

in February 2018.

Professional career

On September 25, 2017, Pecarski signed a three-year contract with Partizan from Belgrade. Over 12

ABA 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 Macedoni ...

games in 2017–18 season, he averaged 4.2 points and 2.6 rebounds, while shooting 71% from the field goal. In August 2019, Pecarski parted ways with Partizan. On September 20, Pecarski officially parted ways with Partizan. On September 20, 2019, Pecarski signed a three-year contract with FMP. Following the 2020–21 season Pecarski declared for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. The NBA draft returned to Brooklyn after 2020 NBA draft, the pre ...

. On July 14, 2021, he parted ways with FMP. On July 19, he withdrawn his name from consideration for the 2021 NBA draft. On July 27, 2021, Pecarski signed a one-year contract with

Borac Čačak Borac may refer to: * FK Borac Banja Luka, a football club from Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina ** RK Borac Banja Luka, an affiliated team handball club ** OK Borac, an affiliated volleyball club * FK Borac Čačak, a football club from Čač ...

. On August 9, 2022, Pecarski signed a contract with Mornar Bar. On August 13, 2023, he signed with Yukatel Merkezefendi of the

(BSL). On July 28, 2024, Pecarski signed one-year contract with Lietkabelis Panevėžys of the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe ** Lithuanian language ** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region ** L ...

(LKL) and the EuroCup. On 21 December, he parted ways with the club.

National team career

Pecarski was a member of the Serbia men's national under-16 teams at the two European Under-16 Championships. Over seven games at the 2016 Championship, he averaged 26.6 points, 15.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game and he was selected to the All-Tournament Team. He was the top scorer and the rebounds leader of the 2016 Championship. Before that, over nine games at the 2015 Championship, he averaged 12 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Pecarski was a member of the Serbian U-18 national basketball teams that won the gold medals at the 2017 Championship and the

2018 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 2018 FIBA U18 European Championship was the 35th edition of the FIBA U18 European Championship. The competition took place in Riga, Ventspils and Liepāja, Latvia, from 28 July to 5 August 2018. Participating teams * * (Winners, 2017 FIBA ...

. Over seven tournament games in 2017, he averaged 12.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. In 2018, he averaged 24.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game over seven tournament games. He was the top scorer and the rebounds leader of the 2018 Championship. He was instrumental in the gold-medal game with a game-high 34 points, 13 rebounds and 1 assist, as Serbia defeated

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

99-90 after an excellent first-half performance. At the tournament's end, he picked up the Most Valuable Player award and got selected to the All-Tournament Team. Pecarski and Balša Koprivica played together for the national team and won a gold medal at the

2017 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 2017 FIBA U18 European Championship was the 34th edition of the FIBA U18 European Championship. The competition took place in Bratislava and Piešťany, Slovakia, from 29 July to 6 August 2017. Venues Participating teams * * * * * * * ...

. Thirty years ago, their fathers Miroslav Pecarski and

Slaviša Koprivica Slaviša "Slavko" Koprivica ( sr-Cyrl, Славиша "Славко" Копривица, born 17 June 1968) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player. He played at both the power forward and center positions. Professional career While ...

played together for the national team and won a gold medal at the

1987 FIBA Under-19 World Championship The 1987 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Italian: 1987 Campionato del mondo FIBA Under 19) was the 3rd edition of the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, FIBA U19 World Championship. It was held in Bormio, Italy from 29 July to 5 August 1987. Y ...

. Pecarski was a member of the Serbian under-19 team that finished 7th at the

2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup The 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup (Greek: Παγκόσμιο Κύπελλο Μπάσκετ FIBA Under-19 2019) was the 14th edition of the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, the biennial international men's youth basketball championshi ...

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

, Greece. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 22.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Pecarski was a member of the Serbian under-20 team that finished 15th at the

2019 FIBA U20 European Championship The 2019 FIBA U20 European Championship was the 22nd edition of the FIBA U20 European Championship. The competition took place in Tel Aviv, Israel from 13 to 21 July 2019. Participating teams * * * * * * * * (3rd place, 2018 FIBA U2 ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, Israel. Over six tournament games, he averaged 18.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.

Individual awards

FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The FIBA U18 EuroBasket is the new name for the FIBA U18 European Championship, originally known as the FIBA European Championship for Juniors. It is a men's youth basketball competition that was inaugurated with the 1964 edition. It was held bi ...

MVP –

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

* FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship All-Tournament Team –

* FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Top scorer –

* FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Rebounds Leader –

FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The FIBA U16 EuroBasket is the new name for the FIBA U16 European Championship, originally known as the FIBA European Championship for Cadets. It's a men's youth basketball competition that was inaugurated with the 1971 edition. Through the 20 ...

All-Tournament Team –

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

* FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship Top scorer –

* FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship Rebounds Leader –

References

External links

Marko Pecarski
at aba-liga.com
Marko Pecarski
at draftexpress.com
Marko Pecarski
at eurobasket.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Pecarski, Marko 2000 births Living people 21st-century Serbian sportsmen ABA League players Basketball League of Serbia players Basketball players from Belgrade BC Lietkabelis players Centers (basketball) Darüşşafaka Basketbol players KK Borac Čačak players KK Mega Basket players KK FMP players KK Partizan players Merkezefendi Belediyesi Denizli Basket players Power forwards Serbian men's basketball players Serbian expatriate basketball people in Germany Serbian expatriate basketball people in Lithuania Serbian expatriate basketball people in Montenegro Spanish expatriate basketball people in Serbia Sportspeople from Gijón