The Spiders have another transfer portal acquisition.
Dartmouth College forward Dusan Neskovic officially announced he would be joining the University of Richmond men’s basketball program on May 7.
“From the start, really like the way they recruited me and really love the staff out there and kind of made me feel at home,” Neskovic said. “So, I’m excited to be a part of a really great, respected program with a ton of history and just excited to start working out with the guys and get to know each other and have big goals for next year.”
Neskovic played the last three seasons with the Big Green, missing out on his first year due to the pandemic as programs in the Ivy League canceled their 2020-2021 seasons. In three seasons, though, beginning during the 2021-2022 season, Neskovic certainly made his presence felt on Dartmouth’s team.
Neskovic improved his game from his sophomore season onward. He averaged just 1.8 points per game in 16 games during that season, but went on to average 12.2 and 16 points per game, respectively in his final two seasons with the Big Green. This season, he also made the Academic All-Ivy Team.
In a game early on in the season against Saint Louis University, an Atlantic 10 opponent of the Spiders, Neskovic dropped 24 points and had 7 rebounds. Neskovic also played a game against fellow incoming transfer Jonathan Beagle and the University at Albany, where he scored 22 points and had 6 rebounds.
“And kind of bringing that experience from playing college basketball for two years at a high-level, I think I can really bring the leadership, a stability and scoring that kind of something that explains my game and obviously a similar play style that Richmond has there and that has been playing,” Neskovic said. “I think that’s something I’m kind of already used to in this league and I feel like it’s gonna be a smooth transition.”
Following a game at Dartmouth where Neskovic was moved out of the starting lineup, Big Green Head Coach David McLaughlin commended Neskovic and the other player that didn’t start for the way they responded to not starting.
“They had a mature approach, they responded, and that’s not easy to take sometimes, right?” McLaughlin said in a postgame interview after Dartmouth’s game against Brown University on Jan. 27.
Neskovic, who is listed at 6-foot-8, will add some size to UR’s roster, which is an area in which the Spiders need some depth with players like center Neal Quinn and forward Zae Bigelow graduating. He will join Beagle, junior center Mike Walz and redshirt first-year Ryan Soulis as some of the taller players on the Spiders’ roster.
“I think what we’re trying to do is just bring in as many guys that are one, good enough to play here, and two, can fit into our style of play and our culture and those kind of things and I think [Neskovic] does that really well,” UR Head Coach Chris Mooney said.
From a playing standpoint, Mooney said Neskovic is a forward with good size and a good shooter.
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“I do think [Neskovic is] a talented scorer and a guy who has a good sense for how to play and has done it very well at a good level,” Mooney said.
In addition to being recruited by the Spiders, Neskovic said he had schools from various levels who reached out to him in the transfer portal.
“I just thought that [UR] was the best fit for me to continue to progress towards being a professional basketball player, which is the ultimate goal,” Neskovic said. “And I feel like it’s a place where I can continue to improve and contribute to the team’s success to kind of repeat the year they had.”
Neskovic, who hails from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is just one in a recent string of international players for the Spiders. Soulis is from Greece, sophomore guard Mikkel Tyne and former forwards Nathan Cayo, ‘22, and Matt Grace, ‘23, are all from Canada and former guard Andre Gustavson, ‘23, is from Finland.
“I love to see the international track record, so I’m glad to be part of that,” Neskovic said. “Looking to continue to improve there and I feel like that’s something that is definitely important in the recruitment process…So I think that’s always great – shows that global recruiting that’s happening at that program and just excited to be a part of that.”
According to Mooney, the team begins practices during summer session one, which just got up and running in the second half of May.
“I’m excited to be part of this team,” Neskovic said. “That’s how I felt on my visit there, like a family, so I’m excited to get going with them and to win as many games as we can and get back to the March Madness stuff.”
Contact sports editor Jimmy James at jimmy.james@richmond.edu.
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