Sasha Stefanovic

Aleksandar "Sasha" Stefanovic (; born November 29, 1998) is a Serbian-American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers. He is now an assistant coach for Purdue.

High school career Stefanovic attended Crown Point High School and played alongside future Indiana player Grant Gelon. In the 2016 Class 4A Crown Point Sectional championship game against Valparaiso High School, he hit a three-pointer at the end of regulation in a 59–54 double-overtime victory and recorded 18 points. As a senior, Stefanovic averaged 20 points, 7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game on a team that finished with a 22–4 record and won the Duneland Athletic Conference title. Stefanovic finished as the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,385 points. A three-star recruit, he received scholarship offers from Loyola–Chicago, Northern Iowa, Valparaiso, Evansville, DePaul and Xavier and also was recruited by Purdue, though Matt Painter admitted the team did not have a scholarship and suggested he attend prep school. In February 2017, a scholarship became available after Basil Smotherman's departure, and Stefanovic committed to playing college basketball for Purdue.

College career Stefanovic redshirted his true freshman season at Purdue. Stefanovic averaged 9.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game as a sophomore. He tested positive for COVID-19 in January 2021, forcing him to miss three games. As a junior, Stefanovic averaged 9.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten as a senior.

Professional career After going undrafted in the 2022 NBA draft, Stefanovic joined the San Antonio Spurs for the 2022 NBA Summer League.

On August 19, 2022, Stefanovic signed his first professional contract overseas with Greek club Kolossos Rodou.

On November 17, 2022, he signed with Mega Basket of the ABA League.

On March 26, 2023, Stefanovic announced his retirement from professional basketball on his personal Instagram account.

National team career Stefanovic was a part of the Purdue team chosen to represent the United States in the 2017 Summer Universiade in Taipai, Taiwan. The U.S. received a silver medal after losing in the title game to Lithuania, though Stefanovic sat out the game.

In April 2022, Stefanovic expressed his interest to represent Serbia internationally in the senior competitions, if called.

Career statistics

College

Personal life His great-grandfather Branko was a native of Serbia who fought in World War II before emigrating to Gary, Indiana to find work in the steel mills. His mother is of ethnic Macedonian descent. Stefanovic's grandfather Zoran received a visa to the United States in 1970 and brought Stefanovic's father, Ljubiša "Lou", with him as a young child. Ljubiša Stefanović played college basketball at Illinois State and was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1985 NBA draft before playing professionally in Europe for five years. Sasha has an older brother, Dejan.