Miroslav Pecarski

Pecarski played college basketball at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, arriving there in 1984 under also newly arrived head coach Matt Furjanic. Considered by some to be Europe's top seventeen-year-old player, Pecarski got injured in the preseason thus opening up an opportunity at center for another newly acquired European prospect — eighteen-year-old Rik Smits.[1]

The Red Foxes had a successful 1985–86 season, making the 64-team NCAA tournament for the first time in team's history. However, they went out at the very first hurdle, losing versus Georgia Tech in the first round of the Southeast regional bracket. Pecarski averaged 10.5 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per game over the entire season.[2]

The following season, playing under new head coach Dave Magarity, Pecarski improved his scoring average to 12.4 points per game and led the team in rebounds with 8.4 boards per game, as the Red Foxes repeated the feat of making the NCAA tournament, but were again eliminated in the first round — this time by Pittsburgh.[3]

Pecarski didn't play for the Red Foxes in the 1987–88 season, in order to train with Yugoslavia for the 1988 Olympics.[4][5]

He returned to Marist for the 1988–89 season and averaged 19.5 points per game, 9.1 rebounds per game and 1.1 blocks per game, leading the school in all three categories.[6]

As a member of Partizan, Pecarski played at the 1988 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four (1988 EuroLeague Final Four) in Ghent. He also won the FIBA Korać Cup in 1989, and the Yugoslav Cup in 1989.

Pecarski obtained a Greek passport in order to obtain playing eligibility as a native in Greece. He won the Greek Cup in 1992, and the FIBA European Cup (FIBA Saporta Cup) in 1993, with Sato Aris. With Panathinaikos, Pecarski won the FIBA European League (EuroLeague) and the Greek Cup in 1996. He also played at the 1995 FIBA European League Final Four (1995 EuroLeague Final Four), in Zaragoza.

In addition to his native Serbia, Pecarski also holds Greek citizenship — obtained for practical reasons of playing without EU administrative restrictions while in the country between 1991 and 1997. All throughout his Greek stint, Pecarski competed under the name Miroslav Mylonas (Greek: Μίροσλαβ Μυλωνάς).[7][8]

His son Marko is also a basketball player.

Pecarski and Slaviša Koprivica played together on the Yugoslavia national under-19 basketball team, winning gold at the 1987 FIBA Under-19 World Championship. Thirty years later, their sons Marko Pecarski and Balša Koprivica, respectively, played together on the Serbia national under-18 basketball team,[9] winning gold at the 2017 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship.

• FIBA Profile
• FIBA Europe Profile
• Spanish League Archive Profile (in Spanish)
• Italian League Profile (in Italian)