The day when the Professor was born

On this day, 93 years ago, one of the world's greatest basketball coaches was born in Sarajevo. His name was Aleksandar Nikolić, while most of you remember him by his famous nickname - The Professor.

Aleksandar Nikolić (1924-2000) was a professor at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, but most importantly he was a teacher to many world-class basketball coaches you have certainly heard of, such are Božidar Maljković, Dušan Ivković, Bogdan Tanjević, Želimir Obradović, etc.

He was such an important figure in region that he also got a nickname - The father of Yugoslav basketball. Simply, all the good things that have happened in the regional basketball over the past 70 years are closely connected to this man.

As a player, he competed for Partizan (1945–1947), Crvena Zvezda (1947–1949), Železničar Čačak (1949–1950) and BSK Beograd (1950–1951). He won the Yugoslav League in 1947, 1948, and 1949 with Crvena Zvezda. Nikolić was a member of the Yugoslav national basketball team, during the late 1940s, playing 10 games.

But, his real fame started on the day he decided to become a basketball coach. He worked in several Serbian and Italian clubs, winning plenty of trophies along the way. Nikolić was also the head coach of the Yugoslav national squad, between 1951 and 1965, and later between 1977 and 1978. Under his leadership, Yugoslavia won the 1978 FIBA World Championship and 1977 FIBA European Championship; silver medals in the 1963 FIBA World Championship, 1961 FIBA European Championship and 1965 FIBA European Championship, and a bronze medal in the 1963 FIBA European Championship.

Nikolić was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998, and into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors.

Still, besides all the trophies and awards he had won during his lifetime, the greatest success of Aleksandar Nikolić was the number of people he had turned into the world-class basketball coaches. He has managed to transfer his knowledge to his students and that is why he will always be known as the greatest basketball Professor of all time.