Hapoel Jerusalem announced tonight (Saturday) the signing of Serbian coach Alexander Djikic for the next two seasons.
Dzikic, 51, coached Budućnost last season, with whom he won a double in the Montenegrin league.
He is considered one of the most esteemed and decorated Serbian coaches in recent years, with a long list of achievements and titles: 2018 Adriatic League Champion, 4 times Slovenian League Champion, 3 times Slovenian Cup Winner, 3 times Slovenian Super Cup Champion, twice Montenegrin Cup Champion, and Cup Champion Fiba's EuroChallenge in 2011.
Dzikic recorded his most notable achievement in 2018, when he won with the Budućnost the league title after a victory in the final series over the Red Star and led the club to a rare appearance in the Euroleague, where he even made 15 appearances in the 18/19 season.
Dzikic said after the signing: "I am happy and excited to join Hapoel Jerusalem.
I have great memories of the organization and especially of the fans, from the last time I came to the arena.
I can guarantee that we will work hard as a team, with passion, courage and determination on the way to achieving the common goals!
We will do our best to bring in the players who will share the same approach to basketball.
Come on hapoel!
Hapoel Jerusalem CEO Guy Harel said: "We were looking for a high-level coach.
As soon as the message came out of Budučnost, we acted at that moment and Alex received a phone call that day.
This is a coach whose record speaks for itself.
Alex has sucked the basics of his basketball both from the tough Serbian mentality and from his time in the NBA.
He is a thorough, very experienced coach, who has won titles throughout his career, and one that players love to play for.
I am sure the connection with him will be successful in all respects.
Now is the time to work. '
Dzikic began his professional career as an assistant coach at Partizan Belgrade and even before the age of 30 was marked as an interesting prospect in a country accustomed to producing gifted basketball coaches.
In 2005, after six years in the partisan, he received a prestigious appointment as assistant coach at the Minnesota Timberwolves when he was only 34 years old and thus became only the second European to be appointed assistant coach, after Igor Kokushkov in the Clippers.
After two years under coach Dwayne Casey in Minnesota, Dzikic returned to Europe, first to Ljubljana and then to Slovenia's Novo Mesto.
Later he coached Britas Vilna, was appointed coach of the Macedonian national team, closed the circle as head coach of the partisan and came to Bodoczenost, where he had great success in two terms, on 17/18 and as mentioned last season.
In between, he was appointed coach of the Spanish Estudiantes in 2019.
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