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Men's Basketball
Aleksandar Spasovski gets bid for National Team
Aleksandar Spasovski, a freshman men's basketball player at Warren Wilson, was recently invited to tryout for the Macedonian Under 20 National Team that will compete at the European National Championships in Romania this summer.
Practice for the National team will start as soon as he gets home in June. His teammates will be guys he grew up playing with in club teams across the country. “Basketball is getting really big in Macedonia,” he said. Macedonia, about the size of Vermont, lies north of Greece.
During June, Aleksandar will live at home and train two to three times a day. In July, he will travel with the team for ten days, playing other countries in friendly matches in preparation for the National Tournament. On his ten-day tour he expects to do fitness at 5:30 am, skills at 10 am, and have practice games at 1:00 and 7:00.
“Twenty four players that have been picked will train together,” he explained, “Twelve will be cut and twelve will officially play in the European Championship in August.”
Aleks feels confident he will be a part of the final cut as he played with the U16 national team before he moved to North Carolina to attend Veritas Christian Academy in Hendersonville. He had the chance at that time to play full time with the younger National team, but decided to finish school and compete in the states instead.
During his junior year at Veritas, he averaged 22 points a game. His senior year, a seven foot player from Romania joined the team and the coach asked him to play point guard instead of being an active shooter. Veritas was ranked 25th in the nation at that time and went on to the finals of the NACA DI National Championships. The team lost by three points in the final seconds of the game; Aleks and the other four starters of Veritas were chosen for the All Tournament team.
Warren Wilson College Coach Jay Lively recruited Aleks last year and was impressed with his toughness on the floor. “He was surrounded by great players and continued to be a leader on the floor," said Coach Lively. "He did what he needed to do to help the team win.”
Aleks played shooting guard this past year with the Warren Wilson team averaging 24 points a game.
This year, the Macedonian U20 team will compete in Division II – based on how the team performed last year, and will play Croatia, Germany, Finland, England and Sylvania.
Aleksandar’s parents have yet to visit him in the US – as Visas are difficult to get. He has gone home the in the summer, but stays during term breaks and works on campus. After finishing his degree in Business at Warren Wilson, he hopes to return to Macedonia and play professionally.