By Yiannis Bouranis/ info@eurohoops.net
The legend of the Yugoslavian basketball, Ranko Zeravica, passed away at the age of 85. He was a significant personality for both the country’s basketball and the European basketball as well. He was a coach for 50 years both in Partizan (with which he won the Korac Cup in 1978) and Crvena Zvezda, while he was also the head coach of many others teams outside Yugoslavia, with Barcelona being the most significant one.
In Yugoslavia (and in Serbia now), Zeravica was considered a legend due to his accomplishments as head coach of the national team. In 1970, he led Yugoslavia to the first gold medal of its history in a big tournament, namely the World Cup that took place in the country and was the beginning of basketball’s expansion in Yugoslavia. He also earned the gold medal in the Olympic Games in 1980 and the silver one in 1968, respectively. He also claimed the silver medal in the 1967 World Cup and the 1969 and 1971 European Championships.Under Zeravica, Yugoslavia won the bronze medal in the 1982 World Cup. Since 2007, he is a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame.
