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Ranko Žeravica
Jugoslovanski košarkarski reprezentanti 1968.jpg
Standing second from the right in 1968.
Personal information
Born (1929-11-17)17 November 1929
Dragutinovo, Danube Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Nationality Serbian
Died 29 October 2015(2015-10-29) (aged 85)
Belgrade, Serbia
Coaching career 1954–2003
Career history
As coach:
1954–1960 Radnički Belgrade
1960–1965 Yugoslavia (assistant)
1965–1972 Yugoslavia
1971–1974 Partizan
1974–1976 FC Barcelona
1976–1978 Partizan
1978–1980 Pula
1980 Yugoslavia
1980–1986 Crvena Zvezda
1982 Yugoslavia
1987–1989 CAI Zaragoza
1989–1990 Irge Desio
1990 Filodoro Napoli
1991 Conservas Daroca
1991 Slobodna Dalmacija Split
Career highlights and awards
As head coach:
  • FIBA Korać Cup champion (1978)
  • Yugoslav League champion (1996)
  • Piva Ivković Award for Lifetime Achievement (1995)
Medals
Men's Basketball
Head Coach for  Yugoslavia
Summer Olympic Games
Gold 1980 Moscow
Silver 1968 Mexico City
FIBA World Cup
Gold 1970 Ljubljana
Silver 1967 Uruguay
Bronze 1982 Colombia
FIBA EuroBasket
Silver 1971 West Germany
Silver 1969 Italy

Ranko Žeravica (Serbian Cyrillic: Ранко Жеравица; 17 November 1929 – 29 October 2015) was a Serbian professional basketball coach. With a career that spanned over 50 years, he is most noted for his work with the senior Yugoslav national team, during the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. In particular, Žeravica's single biggest achievement was guiding the country to its first ever major competition win — a gold medal on home soil, at the 1970 FIBA World Championship — leading to a huge expansion of the game of basketball throughout Yugoslavia.

In 2007, he was enshrined into the FIBA Hall of Fame. Ranko Žeravica Sports Hall was named after him in his honor, in 2016.

Early life

Born to father Milorad, and mother Gordana, in the village of Dragutinovo (before it merged with Beodra into Novo Miloševo), Žeravica's education started in his village and continued in Kikinda, where he traveled every day by train. His family stemmed from Herzegovina by ancestry, having moved several generations before his birth to the Mošorin area, where they became wealthy farmers and land owners.

Coaching career

Club coaching career

After he ended his basketball playing career, Žeravica worked as the head coach of various clubs throughout his career. He won the FIBA Korać Cup championship in 1978, and the Yugoslav League championship in 1996.

Yugoslavia national basketball team

Žeravica was the head coach of the senior men's Yugoslavia national basketball team to gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympic Games and 1970 FIBA World Championship; as well as to silver medals at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games, 1967 FIBA World Championship, 1969 EuroBasket, and 1971 EuroBasket. He also coached Yugoslavia to the bronze medal at the 1982 FIBA World Championship.

He was also the head coach of Yugoslavia at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games and the 1967 EuroBasket.

  • 1967–72 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
  • ......1980 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
  • ......1980 Argentina Argentina (technical adviser)
  • ......1982 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia

Health problems and death

Ranko Žeravica had a history of cardiac problems. In 2009, he suffered a heart attack and had a triple bypass surgery. In early 2015, he was admitted to hospital due to chest pain and was diagnosed with a mild heart attack. He had a coronary stent surgery and was soon discharged from hospital.

Žeravica died on 29 October 2015, aged 85, at his Belgrade home.

See also

  • FIBA Basketball World Cup winning head coaches
  • Ranko Žeravica Sports Hall
  • We Will Be the World Champions
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