Duško Vujošević

Duško Vujošević (; 3 March 1959 – 8 April 2026) was a Yugoslav and Serbian basketball coach of Montenegrin descent.

Vujošević served as the head coach of Partizan in four stints during which he led the club to record 12 national championship titles, 5 national cup titles and record five regional ABA League titles and the FIBA Korać Cup championship in 1989, being most successful coach in club's history with total of 23 trophies. In 2009, leading Partizan Vujošević won the EuroLeague Coach of the Year award.

Early life Born in Titograd, PR Montenegro, FPR Yugoslavia to parents from the Kuči region, Vujošević was only five years old when the family moved to Belgrade. He held Serbian citizeship ever since, declared himself a Yugoslav, Montenegrin and Serbian.

Club coaching Early career Vujošević began his coaching career in 1976, as a 17-year-old. Before 1982, he coached various junior teams in Partizan's youth system. After that, he moved to OKK Beograd for one season and led the club's junior team to the Yugoslav title. The same year, he worked on the coaching staff of OKK Beograd's full squad. On 25 June 2010, Vujošević signed three-year contract with Russian club CSKA Moscow. Only few months later, Vujošević and CSKA Moscow decided to part their ways after elimination in the first stage of Euroleague.

On 25 June 2012, after two years of not working as head coach, Vujošević signed a long-term contract with Partizan.

On 8 September 2015, he parted ways with Partizan. The coach's departure from the state-funded KK Partizan occurred amid controversy and acrimony over his criticism directed at the ruling party in Serbia, especially Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić. In subsequent interviews Vujošević made claims that Vučić's government had effectively forced his removal by presenting the club management with a situation of cutting its funding if he remained its coach.

Limoges CSP On 13 January 2016, Vujošević took over French club Limoges CSP. While coaching Limoges, they finished 10th in the LNB Pro A, and he led his team to the round of 16 in the French Basketball Cup.

He left the team at the end of the 2016–2017 season.

U-BT Cluj-Napoca On 18 June 2019, Vujošević signed a one-year deal with Romanian club U-BT Cluj-Napoca as a coach coordinator. In the 2019–20 season, the club finished 2nd in the Liga Națională group A, Romania's first division, before the season got cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 24 June 2020, he signed a one-year extension with the club. That season, the club won the Liga Națională, and the Romanian Basketball Cup. At the end of the season, he left the club, thereby concluding his career.

National team coaching career SFR Yugoslavia youth teams 1988 European Championship for Juniors As head coach of the Yugoslavia junior national team (players born in 1970), Vujošević won the 1988 European Championship for Juniors held on home soil in Titov Vrbas and Srbobran. Playing at home with a talented squad led by Predrag Danilović, Arijan Komazec, Žan Tabak, Rastko Cvetković, Oliver Popović, and Dževad Alihodžić, Yugoslavia won all of its games en route to the trophy.

1991 FIBA Under-19 World Championship In the summer of 1991, Vujošević selected the Yugoslav U19 team for the World Under-19 Championship in Edmonton, Canada. With Veljko Mršić, Dejan Bodiroga, Dragan Tarlać, Borko Radović, Željko Rebrača, Teo Čizmić, and Željko Topalović on its roster, the team made it out of the initial group stage with a 2–1 record (winning over Soviet Union and Syria, but losing to Brazil).

In the following group stage, Vujošević's Yugoslavia faced Italy (loss), Romania (win), and Spain (loss), finishing tied for the second spot with Spain with a 1–2 record, however, Yugoslavs advanced because of better basket difference thus qualifying for the semifinals.

In the semifinals, Yugoslavia faced the United States led by Lance Miller, Bryan Caver, Wesley Person, Khalid Reeves, Ed Stokes, and Antonio Lang, losing a close game 74–76.

In the 3rd place match versus Argentina featuring Jorge Racca, Gabriel Cocha Silva, Gabriel Diaz, Alejandro Montecchia, Carlos Simoni, Claudio Farabello, and Rubén Wolkowyski, Vujošević's team lost another close contest 71-74 thus finishing just out of the medals with an overall 3–5 record.

Serbia-Montenegro On 22 March 2003, Vujošević's appointment as head coach of the reigning European and World champions Serbia and Montenegro national basketball team was announced, with the upcoming EuroBasket 2003 in Sweden being his first order of business. Taking over for Svetislav Pešić and signing on for two years plus an optional third year with the Basketball Federation of Serbia and Montenegro (KSSCG), The decision turned into an immediate public row between the two. The coach and the player soon made up publicly with Koturović being reinstated in the team and eventually even making the final 12-man roster Vujošević took to the tournament. Six final roster spots were filled with national team debutantes at major competitions—eighteen-year-old Kosta Perović, twenty-one-year-old Vule Avdalović, twenty-four-year-old Ognjen Aškrabić, twenty-seven-year-old Đuro Ostojić, twenty-seven-year-old Dušan Vukčević, and twenty-nine-year-old Nebojša Bogavac.

At the EuroBasket 2003 in Sweden, Serbia-Montenegro experienced hard time getting into the quarterfinals where it lost by 16 points to Lithuania that would go on to win the championship. Finishing the tournament in sixth place was seen as disappointment for Serbia-Montenegro.

Montenegro In April 2007, Vujošević accepted the head coach position of the Montenegro national basketball team. He stayed at the position until 20 November 2010, reportedly resigning out of desire to focus solely on his head coaching job at CSKA Moscow that he had been performing for several months already. Ironically, CSKA fired Vujošević only five days later.

Bosnia and Herzegovina In April 2017, he was named as the head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. He held this position until August 2018.

Coaching record

Euroleague

Political activity On 24 February 2022, it was announced that the opposition coalition around the Social Democratic Party named Vujošević as their ballot carrier and mayoral candidate for the upcoming Belgrade City Assembly election. Vujošević's list won 2.92% of the popular vote, failing to gain a seat in the City Assembly.

Personal life and death A mural dedicated to Duško Vujošević in Njegoševa Street in Belgrade. Vujošević sufferred from diabetes, which over the years caused the emergence of gangrene. In September 2017, he had to amputate the fourth toe on his left foot due to gangrene.

In May 2018, he was made an honorary citizen of Sarajevo for his extraordinary contribution to the development of sport and the affirmation of Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 2025, Vujošević underwent a kidney transplant. He died in Belgrade on 8 April 2026, at the age of 67. He had been hospitalized in Belgrade in March after experiencing heart and kidney issues following his kidney transplant.