Milan Vasojević
Milan "Ciga" Vasojević (Serbian Cyrillic: Милан "Цига" Васојевић; 27 December 1932 – 24 December 1996) was a Serbian professional basketball coach and administrator. He led the national team of Yugoslavia during the greatest successes of women's basketball.
Coaching career
[edit]- Women's basketball
Vasojević coached two Belgrade-based teams Radnički and Crvena zvezda during the 1960s, winning three Yugoslavian League championships as well as two Yugoslav Cup titles in 1960 and 1962.
After leaving Crvena zvezda, Vasojević moved to Italy to coach Recoaro Vicenza from 1967 to 1970, leading the team to two Italian League championships in 1968 and 1969. He then joined Standa Milano, where he stayed for six years, winning an Italian League in 1973. In 1976, Vasojević returned to Yugoslavia, where he coached the men's teams until 1979.
In 1981, Vasojević joined UFO Schio for a year before moving to Italmeco Bari from 1989 to 1991. He then coached Viterbo for one year in the 1991–92 season before ending his coaching career with Beton Berica Thiene from 1992 to 1994.
- Men's basketball
Vasojević coached Radnički Belgrade for two seasons: 1976–77 and 1977–78. In 1977, Radnički reached the Cup Winners' Cup Finals where they lost to Forst Cantù by a single point margin, 86–87.[1] Also, he coached Vojvodina in the 1978–79 season.
National team coaching career
[edit]The arrival of Vasojević as a head coach of the Yugoslavia women's national team in 1980 was almost revolutionary move. The greatest achievements of our women’s Yugoslav national team were to follow. On his debut at the 1980 European Championship in Banja Luka, Vasojević won the bronze medal, and only one month later the same success was achieved at the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow.[2][3]
The change of generations took place under Vasojević. He offered an opportunity to the younger players he fully believed in such as Anđelija Arbutina, Danira Nakić, Razija Mujanović, Jelica Komnenović, Olivera Krivokapić, Bojana Milošević, Slađana Golić.
At the 1987 Summer Universiade held in Zagreb, Yugoslavia won the gold medal, the only gold ever in women’s senior international competitions. The same year, at the European Championship in Cadiz, Yugoslavia won the silver medal in a tough final game against the Soviet Union which ended with an 83–73 win of the Soviet girls.[2]
The 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul were the crown of one splendid generation. A memorable moment of the semi-final game against Australia is a score of Anđelija Arbutina one second before the game end (57–56) for a place in the Olympic finals. The final game for the Olympic gold medal against the United States national team ended with a 77–70 win of the American girls, but the Yugoslavs showed all their talent and strongly resisted the USA team until the very end of the game.[2]
Post-coaching career
[edit]Vasojević was the first director of basketball club Hemofarm from Vršac takes office in 1995.
Career achievements
[edit]- Yugoslav Women's League champion: 3 (with Radnički Beograd: 1961, 1962; with Crvena zvezda: 1963)
- Italian Women's League champion: 3 (with Vicenza: 1968, 1969; with Standa Milano: 1973)
- Yugoslav Women's Basketball Cup winner: 2 (with Radnički Beograd: 1960, 1962)
Legacy
[edit]In 2006, the Basketball Federation of Serbia named the national cup for women in his honor.
In November 2022, he was introduced to the FIBA Hall of Fame.[4][5][6]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Cup Winners' Cup 1976–77". linguasport.com. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
- ^ a b c History of women’s basketball Archived 2016-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, kss.rs
- ^ "Godišnjica smrti Milana Cige Vasojevića". kosarka24.rs. Archived from the original on 2016-11-20. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
- ^ "Svečanom ceremonijom FIBA, Milan Ciga Vasojević primljen u "Kuću slavnih"". mozzartsport.com. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ "FIBA celebrates women's basketball with nine greats inducted into Hall of Fame for 2022". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ "Milan Vasojević posthumno primljen u FIBA "Kuću slavnih"". b92.net. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
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- 1932 births
- 1996 deaths
- BKK Radnički coaches
- FIBA Hall of Fame inductees
- KK Vojvodina coaches
- Serbian men's basketball coaches
- Sportspeople from Belgrade
- Serbian expatriate basketball people in Italy
- ŽKK Crvena zvezda coaches
- Olympic bronze medalists for Yugoslavia
- Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia
- Olympic medalists in basketball
- Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- Yugoslav basketball coaches
- Serbia and Montenegro sports coaches
- Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Italy
- Expatriate basketball coaches