Marko Pecarski (Serbian Cyrillic: Марко Пецарски; born February 12, 2000) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Lietkabelis Panevėžys of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroCup.

Marko Pecarski
No. 15 – Lietkabelis Panevėžys
PositionCenter
LeagueLKL
EuroCup
Personal information
Born (2000-02-12) February 12, 2000 (age 24)
Gijón, Spain
NationalitySerbian
Listed height2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)
Listed weight106 kg (234 lb)
Career information
NBA draft2022: undrafted
Playing career2016–present
Career history
2016Mega Leks
2017Bayern Munich II
2017–2019Partizan
2019–2021FMP
2021–2022Borac Čačak
2022–2023Mornar Bar
2023–2024Yukatel Merkezefendi
2024–presentLietkabelis Panevėžys
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Serbia
FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2017 Slovakia U18 Team
Gold medal – first place 2018 Latvia U18 Team
Pecarski with Novica Veličković

Early life and career

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Pecarski was born in Gijón, Spain as his father Miroslav Pecarski was playing for Gijón of the Liga ACB.[1] Marko grew up in his hometown Belgrade, playing for the Zemun youth system. Pecarski played Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournaments for the Zemun (2013–2014)[2] and the Mega Leks (2015–2016). In April 2016, he participated at 2016 Jordan Brand Classic International Game.[3] He made his debut in the Adriatic League, on 2 May 2016, at the age of 16, in a home loss to Crvena zvezda.[4] In January 2017, he moved to Germany to play for reserve team of Bayern Munich[5] of the German 3rd-tier level ProB. In August 2017, he attended Basketball Without Borders Europe Camp 16 in Netanya, Israel.[6] Also, he attended the Basketball Without Borders Global Camp in El Segundo, California in February 2018.[7]

Professional career

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On September 25, 2017, Pecarski signed a three-year contract with Partizan from Belgrade.[8][9] Over 12 ABA League games in 2017–18 season, he averaged 4.2 points and 2.6 rebounds, while shooting 71% from the field goal. In August 2019, Pecarski parted ways with Partizan.[10] On September 20, Pecarski officially parted ways with Partizan.[11]

On September 20, 2019, Pecarski signed a three-year contract with FMP.[12][13] Following the 2020–21 season Pecarski declared for the 2021 NBA draft.[14] On July 14, 2021, he parted ways with FMP.[15] On July 19, he withdrawn his name from consideration for the 2021 NBA draft.[16]

On July 27, 2021, Pecarski signed a one-year contract with Borac Čačak.[17]

On August 9, 2022, Pecarski signed a contract with Mornar Bar.[18]

On August 13, 2023, he signed with Yukatel Merkezefendi of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL).[19]

On July 28, 2024, Pecarski signed one–year contract with Lietkabelis Panevėžys of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroCup.[20]

National team career

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Pecarski was a member of the Serbia men's national under-16 teams at the two European Under-16 Championships. Over seven games at the 2016 Championship, he averaged 26.6 points, 15.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game[21] and he was selected to the All-Tournament Team. He was the top scorer and the rebounds leader of the 2016 Championship. Before that, over nine games at the 2015 Championship, he averaged 12 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.[22]

Pecarski was a member of the Serbian U-18 national basketball teams that won the gold medals at the 2017 Championship and the 2018 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. Over seven tournament games in 2017, he averaged 12.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.[23] In 2018, he averaged 24.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game over seven tournament games.[24] He was the top scorer and the rebounds leader of the 2018 Championship.[25] He was instrumental in the gold-medal game with a game-high 34 points, 13 rebounds and 1 assist, as Serbia defeated Latvia 99-90 after an excellent first-half performance. At the tournament's end, he picked up the Most Valuable Player award and got selected to the All-Tournament Team.[26] Pecarski and Balša Koprivica played together for the national team and won a gold medal at the 2017 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. Thirty years ago, their fathers Miroslav Pecarski and Slaviša Koprivica played together for the national team and won a gold medal at the 1987 FIBA Under-19 World Championship.[27]

Pecarski was a member of the Serbian under-19 team that finished 7th at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup in Heraklion, Greece. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 22.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.[28] Pecarski was a member of the Serbian under-20 team that finished 15th at the 2019 FIBA U20 European Championship in Tel Aviv, Israel. Over six tournament games, he averaged 18.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.[29]

Individual awards

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References

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  1. ^ "2021 NBA Draft Profile - Marko Pecarski". nba.com. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Pecarski Profile". euroleague.net. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  3. ^ "2016 INTERNATIONAL BOX SCORE". jordanbrandclassic.com. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  4. ^ "Finals Round 3 — Mega Leks 49 : 61 Crvena zvezda mts". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  5. ^ "VELIKI TALENAT KOD SELEKTORA ORLOVA Marko Pecarski prelazi u Bajern". sport.blic.rs. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  6. ^ "First Basketball without Borders Europe camp in Israel draws many elite players from the continent". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  7. ^ "All-Stars Horford, Dragic Headline Basketball Without Borders Global Camp". global.nba.com. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  8. ^ "U CRNO-BELOM DO 2021. Pecarski: Dolaskom u Partizan ostvario sam san, želim da budem lider". sport.blic.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  9. ^ "Šalić, Pecarski and Nikolić signed with Partizan NIS". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  10. ^ "Mijailović za MOZZART Sport: Pecarski nezadovoljan statusom, Partizan njegovim napretkom". mozzartsport.com. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  11. ^ "Pecarski napustio crno-bele, Partizanu 150.000 dolara ako ode u NBA". b92.net. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  12. ^ "Pecarski novi igrač FMP". b92.net. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  13. ^ "Marko Pecarski moved to FMP". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  14. ^ "Marko Pecarski izlazi na NBA draft". mozzartsport.com. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  15. ^ "Zvanično: Rastali se Marko Pecarski i FMP". mozzartsport.com. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  16. ^ "NBA announces 51 early entry candidates withdraw from 2021 Draft". nba.com. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Sada i zvanično: Marko Pecarski novi igrač Borca". mozzartsport.com. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  18. ^ "U Mornar stiže i Marko Pecarski!". kkmornar.bar. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  19. ^ @merkezefendigsk (August 13, 2023). "Hoş geldin Marko Pecarski!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ^ "Priekinę liniją stiprina Turkijos lygoje rungtyniavęs serbas". kklietkabelis.lt (in Lithuanian). 28 July 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  21. ^ "Marko PECARSKI Player Profile at the 2016 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship". FIBA.com. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  22. ^ "Marko PECARSKI Player Profile at the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship". FIBA.com. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  23. ^ "Marko PECARSKI Player Profile at the 2017 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship". FIBA.com. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  24. ^ "Marko PECARSKI 2018 Profile". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  25. ^ "2018 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Players Statistics". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  26. ^ "Serbia big man Pecarski named MVP, tops All-Star Five". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  27. ^ "Koprivica-Pecarski, 30 godina kasnije" (in Serbian). kosmagazin.com. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  28. ^ "Average Statistics of Serbia at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  29. ^ "Average Statistics of Serbia at the 2019 FIBA U20 European Championship". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
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