Tennessee transfer Igor Milicic Jr. makes Poland's Olympic qualifying roster
Tennessee Basketball transfer Igor Milicic Jr. is one of 12 players to make Poland’s Olympic qualifying basketball team, with qualifying play set to start Wednesday in Spain.
Milicic made the cut from 17 players to 12 after playing with Poland the last two weeks in friendlies. He had 13 points and 12 rebounds against Greece on June 21 and averaged 9.4 points and 6.0 rebounds in the friendlies, shooting 44.4% from the field and 38.8% from the 3-point line.
Poland is in Group B and starts qualifying play against the Bahamas on Wednesday and plays Finland on Thursday. Bracket play then begins for the group — Angola, Spain and Lebanon are also in the group — with the bracket winner earning a spot in the Paris Olympics.
Twelve countries will qualify for the Paris Olympics. Milicic’s father, Igor Milicic Sr., is the coach of the Polish National Team.
Milcic, a 6-foot-10, 225-pound senior, enrolled at Tennessee in May after transferring from Charlotte. He is one of four additions to the Tennessee roster from the NCAA Transfer Portal. He announced his commitment on April 29, picking Tennessee over Baylor and Nebraska.
“He is a talented player who has received excellent coaching throughout his career,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said in a statement after Milicic signed with the Vols, “both in college and in Europe, including learning from his father, Igor Sr., who is one of the best in the business.”
Hofstra wing Darlinstone Dubar signed with Tennessee on April 19 and Ohio State center Felix Okpara committed and signed on April 25. Chaz Lanier was the final addition to the transfer class on May 24.
Rick Barnes: Igor Milcic is ‘a versatile competitor … (with a) unique and polished skill set’
Milcic averaged 12.8 points and 8.5 rebounds at Charlotte last season, shooting 48.7% from the field and 37.6% from the 3-point line. He started his career at Virginia before transferring to Charlotte after the 2021-22 season. He entered the transfer portal on March 25.
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“A versatile competitor, Igor has an impressive, unique and polished skill set that we think will translate well to the SEC,” Barnes said. “He is a quality 3-point shooter and superb defensive rebounder with big-time upside.
“Igor possesses invaluable experience on the international level with the Polish National Team and he has improved every year as a collegian. We feel he will fit in well at Tennessee, both on and off the court.”
A closer look at Tennessee Basketball’s transfer class
Dubar spent the last three seasons at Hofstra after playing his first season at Iowa State. Dubar averaged a career-high 17.8 points per game in 33 games last season, shooting 53.9% from the floor and 39.9% from the 3-point line. He also averaged 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 34.6 minutes per game.
Okpara averaged 6.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks this season and averaged 5.3 points and 5.0 rebounds over the last two years.
Lanier is a Nashville native — he attended Ensworth School before going to North Florida — and averaged 19.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 33.4 minutes per game last season, shooting 51.0% from the field and 44.0% from the 3-point line.
According to Synergy Basketball, his 19.7 points came on just 16.3 possessions per game, putting him at 1.20 points per possession and ranked No. 1 in scoring efficiency last season.
