By Semih Tuna/ info@eurohoops.net
Preparing for the 2023-24 season and looking to name a new head coach, Besiktas Emlakjet has progressed in talks with Jure Zdovc.
Zdovc, 56, is the main target for the play-caller role at the Istanbul outfit, according to Eurohoops sources.
Igor Milicic took over last December but is expected to part ways with Besiktas. His possible replacement has been a free agent since his departure from Zalgiris in April 2022.
Beşiktaş‘ta koç koltuğu için en büyük aday Jure Zdovc.
Detaylar birazdan @EurohoopsTR‘de.
— Semih Tuna (@semih_tuna) June 10, 2023
Besides guiding the team located in Kaunas through most of the 2021-22 season, previous former teams stretch to Metropolitans 92, Olimpija Ljubljana, Cedevita, AEK, Royal Hali Gaziantep, Spartak Saint Petersburg, Bosna, Iraklis, Slovan, and Split. At the international level, he coached Slovenia’s senior national team in two separate spells ranging from the 2014 FIBA World Cup and 2015 EuroBasket to the 2009 EuroBasket.
A European champion as a player, back in 1993 as the starting point guard of Limoges CSP, his coaching career has grown over two decades long. Achievements include being named EuroCup Coach of the Year at the midway point of his stay in Saint Petersburg. Landing domestic titles marked stints in Slovenia, Lithuania, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The Slovenian tactician is in advanced talks for a return to Turkey. His run with Gaziantep from 2013 to 2015 saw a third-place finish in the 2014 EuroChallenge Final Four held in Bologna’s PalaDozza and a couple of midtable finishes at the domestic level.
Ranking 14th behind a 10-20 record, Besiktas narrowly escaped relegation in the 2022-23 edition of Turkiye Sigorta Basketbol Super Ligi.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net