"If the Situation is Good – You Go!" How Miško Ražnatović is Building a Balkan Talent Empire at Illinois
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Illinois is set to face Connecticut in the Final Four this Saturday night, marking their first appearance in over two decades. This achievement is largely thanks to their "Balkan Five" – five Illinois players hailing from Southeastern Europe. Four of these five athletes are represented by Serbian agent Miško Ražnatović. Notably, none of them are Ražnatović's most famous client; he also represents Nuggets star and three-time NBA MVP, Nikola Jokić.
As the NBA has become increasingly international (with the last seven MVP awards going to non-U.S. players), Illinois has embraced this global trend.
"The best players in the NBA are now Europeans. We're just following that direction," Illinois coach Brad Underwood stated last autumn.
"The Balkan Five"
While the Lakers have long featured clients from Klutch Sports alongside LeBron James, and the Knicks boast a roster full of CAA agency clients, Illinois prides itself on a team stacked with Ražnatović's players.
The "Balkan Five" includes 7-foot (213 cm) twin brothers Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivišić (Croatia), David Mirković (Montenegro), Andrej Stojaković (Greece) – son of three-time Serbian NBA All-Star Peja Stojaković – and Mihailo Petrović (Serbia). Ražnatović represents all of them except Stojaković.
"If the Basketball Situation is Good – You Go"
All of his clients arrived at Illinois without ever having visited the school. Ražnatović himself has never set foot on the Champaign campus, nor does he plan to.
"I read articles about how many American players, and even some from Europe, visit three or four universities before making a decision. None of my guys went on a visit. Why would they? To see what the campus looks like? What the locker room looks like? That's not important. For every individual player, you analyze the basketball situation. If the basketball situation is good, then you go," Ražnatović told Front Office Sports.
Ražnatović explains that his clients don't know enough about American schools to make decisions based on anything other than the basketball aspect. When Luka Bogavac, another of his clients from Montenegro, committed to North Carolina, "he only knew that Michael Jordan once played for that team."
Ražnatović connected with Illinois through assistant coach Orlando Antigua. As a long-time associate of John Calipari at Kentucky and Arkansas, Antigua recruited Zvonimir Ivišić to Kentucky in 2023. He followed coaches to Arkansas and then moved to Illinois a year ago, where he was joined by his twin brother.
Antigua collaborated with Ražnatović on Zvonimir's recruitment and continued to reach out to him for new players after impressing Underwood. "He was key," Ražnatović said of Antigua.
The roster would look entirely different were it not for recent NCAA rule changes. Before 2023, players who had played professionally abroad were ineligible for NCAA competition. However, the governing body softened its definition of amateurism in light of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) rules, paving the way for Europeans to cross the pond en masse into college basketball.
While other schools sought players from the G League or Overtime Elite programs, Illinois went all-in on European prospects, adding Croatian Toni Bilić in December. Bilić is redshirting this season.
"In Europe, young guys don't get enough minutes, which slows their development. When this opportunity arose, it was really something worth considering," Ražnatović stated to FOS.
More Than Just Players
Ražnatović currently represents 26 college basketball players but plans to have close to 40 next season. He is also leveraging Illinois' success to convince other schools to replicate their model.
"Now Illinois is very popular. First, because of the Final Four, and second, because they have so many players from the Balkans. That makes adaptation easier. After what happened at Illinois, I'm really trying, when I talk to teams, to convince them to take at least two. It's not necessary to have five or six like Illinois, but if you have two, they have someone to adapt with and play much better. Next season, I think you'll see more of these 'package deals,'" Miško Ražnatović said.
Ražnatović isn't just offering players in packages. He also encourages schools to consider hiring coaches from the region. In 1999, Igor Kokoškov – another of Ražnatović's clients – became the first European-born assistant coach in NCAA history when he joined Quinn Snyder's staff at Missouri.
Snyder hired Kokoškov more for his player development work than for recruiting. Kokoškov later became the first European head coach in the NBA when the Suns hired him in 2018. Nearly 30 years later, more coaches might follow Snyder's lead now that this region is a hotbed of talent.
"I believe it's good for the colleges too because the guys perform better. I told the schools – if you want guys from this region, you should bring an assistant from this region as well."
What Ražnatović finds most impressive about Illinois is that they achieved all this virtually without significant contributions from Petrović, whom he considers among the most talented players he has ever represented.
"They reached the Final Four practically without using the best Yugoslav player. He's not getting minutes, but he's a top player," Ražnatović concluded for FOS.
Video: Miško Ražnatović revealed who reconciled him with Željko Obradović, and when Gudurić will join Crvena Zvezda
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