MEGA MIS CELEBRATES ITS 24TH BIRTHDAY

Mega MIS basketball club was founded 24 years ago today.

On December 23, 1998, the basketball section of the cardboard packaging factory was created under the name Avala Ada. Step by step, it grew up within the framework of Serbian and, eventually, European and world basketball. Mega has become a synonym for successful work with young players on a global level. That is proven by the fact that it is the only team outside the USA with three players selected in the same NBA draft on three different occasions, with a record of 15 drafted players. Mega paved the way to stardom for aces like two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and 2021 Euroleague MVP Vasilije Micic, making her unique in the basketball world.

During all these years, Velimir Mihailović was with the club. He went from sports director to president of Mega MIS, a role he still holds today.

From the lowest ranking division, the club gradually progressed and went step by step on the basketball ladder of Serbia and the region. It became a member of the First League in 2005, and eight years later, at the end of the 2012/13 season, it secured a place in the ABA League under Dejan Milojević.

After two finals of the Radivoj Korać Cup in 2014 and 2015, Mega achieved the greatest success in the club’s history by winning the Žućkova levica trophy in 2016. A memorable season was rounded by reaching the finals of the ABA league playoffs. In the following season, Mega became a participant in the premier edition of the FIBA Champions League.

Numerous successes in Serbia and the region marked quality work in the younger categories. Still, its crowning glory came in the summer of 2022, when Dragoljub Avramović’s team won the Junior Euroleague. At the final “Adidas Next Generation” tournament in Belgrade, they defeated the renowned INSEP, Real Madrid, Maccabi, and the Next Generation Select team in the battle for the trophy.

A large number of players who are still successfully playing in the strongest league in the world wore the famous pink jerseys. Mega’s well-known factory of basketball pearls gave birth to one of the best centers in the globe Nikola Jokić. On the NBA courts, you can also see Ivica Zubac, Marko Simonović, Goga Bitadze, Vlatko Čančar, and Boban Marjanović. In the summer of 2022, also Serbian national team player Nikola Jović.

Many Mega players wore the Serbian national team jersey, from Jokić, Micić, and Marjanović, to Filip Petrušev, Ognjen Jaramaz, Novica Veličković, Marko Kešelj, Milenko Tepić, Nemanja Dangubić, as well as the young guns like Jović and Nikola Đurišić who debuted with the national team as Mega players.

In the coming years, Mega will continue with its recognizable work system. As the youngest team in the region, it will continue to provide the opportunity for young and promising players to gain the necessary experience on the way to the jersey of the national team and NBA clubs.

Photo: Mega MIS