Meet The Beavers: Gligorije Rakocevic
October 21, 2015 | Men's Basketball
The Oregon State men's basketball team opens its regular season on Saturday, Nov. 14 against Northwest Christian at Gill Coliseum. To help preview the 115th season in school history, and Year II of the Wayne Tinkle coaching era, we sat down with the team's newcomers to find out more about them.
Gligorije Rakocevic – AKA “Big G” – comes to OSU from Bijelo-Polje, Montenegro, via Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary High School in Montebello, Calif. A 6-foot-11, 250-pound center, he was ranked as a three-star recruit by Rivals and 247 Sports, was second-team all-state and earned his team's MVP and Best offensive Player awards after averaging 19.2 points and 10.5 rebounds as a senior.
Do you remember your first dunk?
RAKOCEVIC: “The first time I dunked was my sophomore year back in Montenegro. That was big for me and I was happy for two weeks. Just talking with my friends about my first dunk. I still remember that day. It was one-handed, with my right hand.”
What pre-game routines or superstitions do you have?
RAKOCEVIC: “Before games I want to be alone, thinking about the players I'm going to guard that day. And I want to listen to music, especially Serbian music, that's relaxing for me. I don't eat a lot before games.”
What number would you choose if you could choose your own number?
RAKOCEVIC: “I would wear No. 11. The first jersey I got back home when I started playing basketball was from my dad, No. 11. I wore No. 11 for years back home but when I got to high school in the U.S. they had No. 11 but the jersey was too small for me, so I picked No. 23. Malcolm (Duvivier) wears No. 11 and he's older than me so I just picked 23 again. I will stay No. 23. I play for my national team back home and wear No. 11.”
What is the best sports movie you've ever seen?
RAKOCEVIC: “There are a lot of sports movies but my favorite is 'Once Brothers.' It's about Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic, when they played in the NBA. It's about Yugoslavia, about them winning a gold medal with Yugoslavia and after Drazen Petrovic died what happened with Serbia and Croatia.”
Which Pac-12 city are you most looking forward to visiting?
RAKOCEVIC: “Washington State. I want to go there to beat Washington State. I liked Washington State and I wanted to go there the first time but not anymore, I am in the right place.”
What other sport did you like to play growing up?
RAKOCEVIC: “I played soccer a little bit. I was the goalie at my middle school but that was it. I just played for fun. I'm a basketball player.”
Do you prefer to play Call of Duty, FIFA 16, or Madden 16?
RAKOCEVIC: “Call of Duty. I'm pretty good.”
What would be your favorite vacation destination?
RAKOCEVIC: “Alaska. I love the outdoors, fishing and hunting. I want to go there one day and spend a week there and try everything there, the different kind of fishing and hunting.”
How hard was it for you to become proficient in English, a very difficult language to learn?
RAKOCEVIC: “The toughest thing for me is to communicate with people. I still have some problems with communication but I feel I'm learning every day, new words and how to complete bigger sentences. The first five or six months for me (in California) were hard for me. I didn't know how to communicate with people so I used Google translator to finish my homework and to talk to my coaches and my teammates.”
What is the hardest thing about being so far from your home in Montenegro?
RAKOCEVIC: “To be away from my family and my friends. I miss them every day, especially my two younger sisters, Kristina and Anja. I hope they can come over here and watch me play but it depends on my mom's and my dad's work.”
