Europe: College Basketball’s New Secret Weapon
Illinois Head Coach Brad Underwood has been dubbed as crafting the most European college basketball roster of all time. Underwood’s roster features Serbian point guard Mihailo Petrovic, Montenegrin forward David Mirkovic, and Croatian twin centers Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic, who are all seasoned products of the European professional system. While other programs focused on the transfer portal, Underwood looked abroad for solutions. Underwood isn’t the only coach using this, as the race to secure European professional talent has never been more intense.
Many programs will follow Florida’s format for piecing together a championship-level roster utilizing the transfer portal and developing that talent, but Europe may offer a more sound solution. The transfer portal can provide quick fixes, but it is increasingly unreliable. Players enter and exit without warning, making roster building more difficult than ever before. European players, in contrast, bring age, experience, physicality, and professionalism, having spent their formative years playing against grown men. Coaches value that stability, recognizing that a 21-year-old with pro experience is often better prepared for the physical and mental demands of a college season than a sophomore transfer looking for his third school.
Unlike the American AAU system, which leans heavily on individualism and fast-paced development circuits, the European model emphasizes fundamentals, discipline, and team structure. Many of these players have been practicing under professional coaches since their mid-teens, giving them a head start in areas like footwork, decision-making, and understanding how to impact the game without dominating the ball. When they arrive at college, they don’t need as much time to adjust. Last season for Illinois, Kasparas Jakucionis, who formerly played for FC Barcelona, dominated, propelling himself into top-ten discussions.
The rise of NIL opportunities has only made the NCAA more appealing to European players. Where once they might have stayed in lower-tier leagues, slowly earning minutes and modest salaries, college basketball now offers them exposure, training resources, NBA scouts, and real financial incentives. High-major programs have already begun beating out European organizations for players. After struggling in the transfer portal, UNC landed Luka Bogavac, a 21-year-old Montenegrin point guard prospect who averaged 14.9 points per game in the Adriatic League. Texas A&M landed 22-year-old wing Ruben Dominguez, who has competed in Spain’s top basketball league for quite some time as a premier shooter. Filip Jovic took his talents to Auburn, arriving from Serbia’s Mega Basket program, where he developed a reputation as a versatile, physically mature forward capable of stretching the floor and guarding multiple positions. In a landscape defined by movement and uncertainty, tapping into Europe’s talent pool offers a level of reliability that the American system can no longer provide.
