Jurica Žuža

Jurica Žuža (born April 4, 1978) is a Croatian basketball coach and former basketball player who was last the interim head coach for Neptūnas Klaipėda of the Lithuanian League.

Jurica Žuža
Žuža with Lietkabelis in 2015
Personal information
Born (1978-04-04) 4 April 1978
Zadar, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
NationalityCroatian
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Career information
NBA draft2000 / Undrafted
Playing career1996–2016
PositionCenter
Career history
As player:
1996–1998Zadar
1998–1999Svjetlost Brod
1999–2000Zadar
2000–2001Šanac Karlovac
2001–2002Iraklio
2002–2003Panathinaikos
2003–2004Ionikos
2004–2005Crabs Rimini
2005–2007Cibona
2007Rethymno
2007–2008Cedevita
2008–2009Poltava
2009–2011Kryvbasbasket
2011Zadar
2011–2012Tofaş
2012–2013Trabzonspor
2013–2014Al Rayan
2014–2016Lietkabelis Panevėžys
As coach:
2016–2017Lietkabelis Panevėžys (assistant)
2017–2020Neptūnas Klaipėda (assistant)
2020Neptūnas Klaipėda
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men’s basketball
Representing  Croatia
European U-18 Championship
1996 France Under-18

Professional career

Žuža started his professional career at Zadar under coach Danijel Jusup. After two years spent in the club and winning the 1998 Croatian Cup (first trophy for Zadar in independent Croatia), he played in Svjetlost Brod and then again in Zadar winning another Cup in 2000. After spending a season in Šanac Karlovac Žuža moved abroad to the Greek Iraklio. After that he spent a season in Panathinaikos coached by Željko Obradović during which he won the Greek League and Cup. He later spent a season in the Greek Ionikos and Italian Crabs Rimini before playing two and a half seasons for Cibona during which he became the Croatian League champion twice. After playing for the Greek Rethymno, Croatian Cedevita,[1] Polish Poltava and Ukrainian Kryvbasbasket, during the 2010–11 season Žuža shortly again played for Zadar. Then he went to the Turkish Tofaş from Bursa and then to Trabzonspor, with whom he won the Turkish Second League. From there Žuža went to the Qatari Al Rayan, and in 2014 he made his final transfer to Lietkabelis where he played the last two seasons of his professional career. In the last season of his 20-year professional playing career Žuža helped his club win third place in the 2015–16 Baltic League.[2]

Coaching career

He began his coaching career as assistant coach for Lietkabelis, the same club he finished his playing career. Lietkabelis achieved its best result in history, finishing as runners-up in the 2016–17 Lithuanian League. The next season he was assistant coach for Neptūnas who came third in the 2017–18 Lithuanian League.[3][4]

References
  1. "Jurica Žuža u Cedeviti" (in Croatian). 057info.hr. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  2. "Jurica Žuža nakon 20 godina završio karijeru" (in Croatian). zadarskilist.hr. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  3. "Jurica Žuža-košarkaško dijete rata" (in Croatian). basketball.hr. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  4. "Biti treći u zemlji košarke - za to se treba boriti, to je čast!" (in Croatian). basketball.hr. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
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