Ranko Žeravica

Ranko Žeravica
Personal information
Born	17 November 1929; Dragutinovo, Danube Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Died	29 October 2015 (aged 85); Belgrade, Serbia
Nationality	Serbian
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
1993–1994	Onyx Juvecaserta
1995–1996	Partizan
1996–1997	Crvena Zvezda
2003	CAI Zaragoza
Career highlights and awards
	As head coach: FIBA Korać Cup champion (1978); Yugoslav League champion (1996); Piva Ivković Award for Lifetime Achievement (1995);
	FIBA Hall of Fame as coach
Men's Basketball
Head Coach for Yugoslavia
Summer Olympic Games
FIBA World Cup
FIBA EuroBasket

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[edit]

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.^[1]

Coaching career[edit]

Club coaching career[edit]

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[edit]

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 Yugoslavia
......1980 Yugoslavia
......1980 Argentina (technical adviser)
......1982 Yugoslavia

Health problems and death[edit]

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.^[2]

In popular culture[edit]

In the 2015 Serbian sports drama We Will Be the World Champions, Žeravica was portrayed by Sergej Trifunović.^[3]

References[edit]

^ Ispovest Ranka Žeravice: "Žućko je umro na rukama moje supruge";Blic, 20 February 2012.
^ ODLAZAK KOŠARKAŠKE LEGENDE Preminuo Ranko Žeravica, Blic.rs, 29 October 2015.(in Serbian)
^ Full Cast & Crew of We Will Be the World Champions

External links[edit]

FIBA Hall of Fame page on Žeravica

[1] Ispovest Ranka Žeravice: "Žućko je umro na rukama moje supruge";Blic, 20 February 2012.

[2] ODLAZAK KOŠARKAŠKE LEGENDE Preminuo Ranko Žeravica, Blic.rs, 29 October 2015.(in Serbian)

[3] Full Cast & Crew of We Will Be the World Champions

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