Saturday, May 07, 2011

NASHVILLE - Once in a visiting radio broadcast, the lane at Lipscomb was referred to as the “Great Eastern Europe Nation of Hodzic.”

Adnan Hodzic spent four years dominating the low post for the Lipscomb Bisons. His accolades are nearly too many to mention. He was a three-time First Team All-Atlantic Sun Selection, an Associated Press All-American, and Lipscomb’s NCAA-era career leading scorer with 2,002 points.

It can be easy to write off a player from a “Mid-Major” school. But in 10 games against “Major” programs over the last three years he averaged 18.7 points and 7.7 rebounds.

Now Hodzic will replace his purple and gold Lipscomb jersey for the blue and gold jersey of the Bosnian Senior National Team.

“I get to represent my country which is just amazing,” Hodzic said. “I just feel blessed. It’s the only thing to say. I feel like God gave me this opportunity. Not many players get to represent their country.”

Hodzic returns to his home nation which he and his family fled in 1994 during the Bosnian war in order for Adnan to have eye surgery in the United States.

Hodzic flies to Bosnia on July 16 to train with the national team and participate in a couple “friendly” games prior to the European Basketball Championship in Lithuania.

Bosnia is grouped with Macedonia, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, and one additional team to be determined. They will open with a game against Greece on August 31. The EuroBasket Championship continues through the finals on September 18 with the top two teams guaranteed spots at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

After the Bisons season ended in March, Hodzic quickly signed with Pro One Sports Management. He has finished classes at Lipscomb and will take two more online classes this summer to finish his degree in Marketing.

Hodzic will train in Indianapolis in May before heading to San Francisco to work out for a month. He hopes to work for several NBA teams throughout the period.

The Eurobasket Championship will feature the top talent throughout Europe and also draw the eyes of scouts from throughout the world. Assuming he isn’t selected in the NBA draft on June 23, Hodzic plans to move swiftly on several professional offers instead of waiting until after the Eurobasket Championship.

“I don’t look at overseas as a secondary option,” Hodzic said. “I want to sign before I go over there in order to go over there and have fun instead of playing with the pressure to perform for better offers.”

Hodzic hopes to land in Spain’s ACB league, which is generally regarded as the top league in the world outside of the NBA. He turned down a professional contract with an ACB team days after this year’s season ended, choosing to finish his degree at Lipscomb.