You could possibly consider Dejan to be part of the 2011 recruiting class, but we're going to throw him into the 2012 class since he'll be a transfer and he'll have to sit out the entire year. Dejan Kravic (6-11/230) signed with Texas Tech right as classes started and he's a transfer from York University in Ontario Canada. Kravic will most likely replace C Robert Lewandowski, who will have graduated at the end of the 2011-12 season. Let's get to it.
The Measurables:
DEJAN KRAVIC
Position: PF/C
DTN Profile
Video: Clip 1 | Clip 2
Rivals N/A
Scout N/A
ESPN N/A
24/7 Sports N/A
Ht: 6'11" | Wt: 230 lbs
College: York University (London, Ontario, Canada)
The Player Speaks: Per the official site, here's Kravic:
"I am excited about being at Texas Tech. I think it is a good fit for me and I am glad to be here," said Kravic. "I look forward to working with one of the top coaches around in coach Gillispie and improving my skill level."
That's all I could find.
Offers and Rankings: The official site says that he had interest from California, Rice, Nevada, Tulane, South Florida and Louisiana Tech. I'd also add that York University is a four year university, so I guess Kravic was looking to transfer. He could have stayed all four years at York University, but I'm guessing he wanted to get to the U.S. to see if his game would get him some exposure.
More after the jump.
The Video: Film don't lie.
Scouting Report: The first thing that I noticed was the fact that Kravic has some pretty good handles for a 6-11 center. His last year at York, Kravic was pretty good:
15.6 PPG | 52.6% FG | 14.3% 3FG | 81.4% FT | 9.6 RPG | 2.0 APG | 2.3 BPG
You'd like to see a higher field goal percentage from a 6-11 center, but that's being a bit nit-picky. Also, despite one of Kravic's highlights being some outside shots, I'm guessing that those were few and far between as he only shot 14.3% from beyond the 3-point line. The numbers aren't blowing you away, but I'll take a chance on a player that looks mildly athletic with some basketball ability any day of the week. Kravic won't set the Big 12 on fire, but I think he can be a decent role player who has some moves in the low post. When Kravic signed at Texas Tech, I also found this bit on Eurohopes Basketball about Kravic:
Being among the tallest teens of the Westminster Secondary School, Dejan logically joined the high school team and fell in love with basketball and started his improvement. At the start of his high school junior year, Dejan was a thin small forward. Then he grew up from 6'6" to 6'9" very quickly, which explains how he now has some unique ball-handling and passing skills and the ability to shoot from the outside despite a quite strange shooting mechanics. When he started to play closer to the rim, these outside skills helped him a lot, but his lack of weight really hurt him. Very quickly, Dejan understood he needed to add weight and increase his muscle mass. So he decided to build a good basketball body in order to be more efficient on the court. Since then, during every summer holiday, he works out an hour and a half per day (including warms-up and cool-down), 6 times a week, focusing on developing size, explosiveness and quickness, varying his program to fulfill each of those needs. Whilst during the regular seasons, he had team workouts twice a week mainly focusing on the muscle groups needed in basketball such as his lower body and core.
This article also goes on to say that Kravic was one of the more highly rated Canadians playing and had been invited to try out for their national team. Kravic has dual citizenship for both Serbia and Canda. One other note, in July of this year, it appeared that Kravic had actually committed to Rice. I can almost guarantee that Gillispie's selling point was that he didn't care what the Rice roster actually looked like, but Gillispie essentially had one scholarship spot open after this year, Lewandowski, and if he wanted to play in the post and see actual playing time, then it was time to commit to Texas Tech. With Lew gone after this year, there will be playing time available for Kravic as C Kader Tapsoba is the only other center on the team.
Dejan, welcome to Texas Tech and Git Your Guns Up!
The 2012 Class:
| Position | Commitment | Ht/Wt | High School/State | Rivals  |
Scout |
ESPN |
ESPN Grade | 24/7 |
24/7 Grade |
| PG | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| SG | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| SF | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| PF | Jordan Goodman | 6-9/210 | Arlington Country Day (Jacksonville, FL) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 91 | 3 | 89 |
| C | Dejan Kravic | 6-11/230 | York University (London, Ontario, Canada) | - | - | - | - | - | - |