Nebojša Ilić (basketball)


Nebojša "Neša" Ilić is a Serbian basketball executive and former player. He is currently serving as the team manager for Crvena zvezda and the Serbia national basketball team.

Playing career

Crvena zvezda (1985–1993, 1995–1997)

Ilić spent most of his professional career in his hometown-based team Crvena zvezda. Ilić holds the Yugoslav Basketball League record for points in one game. On November 21, 1992, in a game against Vojvodina, he scored 71 points and set the league record.
After the 1996–97 season, Ilić retires from professional basketball. In ten seasons with the Zvezda, he played 304 games and scored 4,732 points.

Cáceres (1993–1995)

Ilić had a stint with Spanish team Cáceres. He played two Liga ACB seasons there. The most important achievement there was the semifinals of the 1994–95 FIBA Korać Cup.

National team career

Ilić was a member of the Yugoslav cadet team that won the gold medal at the 1985 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in Ruse, Bulgaria. Over seven tournament games as the team's leading scorer, he averaged 20.4 points per game. Ilić was a member of the Yugoslavia national under-18 team that won the gold medal at the 1986 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship in Austria. Over seven tournament games as the team's leading scorer, he averaged 15.0 points per game. Ilić was a member of the Yugoslavia national under-19 team that won the gold medal at the 1987 FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Bormio, Italy. Over six tournament games as the team's leading scorer, he averaged 15.3 points per game.
In all three tournaments, Svetislav Pešić was the head coach, while Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoč, Radenko Dobraš, and Slaviša Koprivica were his teammates.

Basketball executive career

Crvena zvezda (2001–present)

Ilić have been serving as a team manager of Crvena zvezda since 2001. On September 19, 2017, he became a sports director of the Zvezda. He left the sports director office in October 2019.
As a staff manager of the Zvezda, Ilić won five Serbian League championships, six National Cup tournaments. Also, he won four Adriatic League championships and one Adriatic Supercup tournament.

Serbia national team (2010–present)

In 2010, Ilić joined the Serbia national basketball team's stuff as the team manager. Since then, he worked with three head coaches; Dušan Ivković, Aleksandar Đorđević, and Igor Kokoškov.
Ilić won three silver medals with the national team: 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, 2016 Summer Olympics, and EuroBasket 2017.