Marin Marić

Marin Marić
No. 34 – Sichuan Blue Whales
PositionCenter
LeagueCBA
Personal information
Born (1994-02-21) 21 February 1994 (age 30)
Split, Croatia
Listed height211 cm (6 ft 11 in)
Listed weight109 kg (240 lb)
Career information
High schoolLa Lumiere School
(La Porte, Indiana)
College
NBA draft2018: undrafted
Playing career2011–present
Career history
2011–2012Split
2018Büyükçekmece
2018–2019Oostende
2019–2020Okapi Aalst
2020BC Lietkabelis
2020–2021Split
2021Ironi Ness Ziona
2021–2022Larisa
2022–2024Andorra
2024Changsha Wantian Yongsheng
2024–presentSichuan Blue Whales
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Croatia
FIBA U18 European Championship
Gold medal – first place 2012 Croatia National team

Marin Marić (born 21 February 1994) is a Croatian professional basketball player for Sichuan Blue Whales of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball in the United States for Northern Illinois and DePaul.

College career

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Marić moved to the United States in 2012 to attend La Lumiere School in La Porte, Indiana. In 2013, he enrolled at Northern Illinois University and debuted for the Huskies men's basketball. An injury early in his freshman year led to him redshirting the 2013–14 season. He returned in the 2014–15 season[1] and played three full seasons for the Huskies. In 2017, he originally declared for the NBA draft, but withdrew his name before the draft withdrawal deadline.[2] He subsequently left Northern Illinois and joined DePaul as a graduate transfer.[2][3][4] In his lone season at DePaul, Maric averaged 13.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He had a season-high 25 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists against St. John's on January 6, 2018.[5]

Professional career

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On 12 May 2012, Marić made his professional debut at age 18 with Split in an A-Liga game against Slavonski Brod, playing for 15 seconds.[6]

Following the 2017–18 US college season, Marić had a two-game stint in the Turkish Basketball Super League for Büyükçekmece.[7][8] For the 2018–19 season, he played in Belgium with Oostende of the Pro Basketball League (PBL).[9] Despite him missing the back-end of the season with an elbow injury,[10] he was crowned a champion in June 2019 when Oostende won the PBL title.[11] He returned to Belgium for the 2019–20 season, joining Okapi Aalst.[11] He was the PBL's MVP of Round 1 after recording 21 points and nine rebounds in a win over Leuven Bears.[12] Marić led the league in rebounding with 8.8 rebounds per game.[13]

On June 19, 2020, Marić signed with BC Lietkabelis of the Lithuanian Basketball League.[13] He averaged 9.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in the EuroCup.[14] On December 3, 2020, he signed with Split of the Adriatic League and the Croatian League, returning to the team for a second stint.[14]

On September 19, 2021, Marić signed with Ironi Ness Ziona of the Israeli Basketball Super League.[15] He left the team in early November.[16]

On December 16, 2021, Marić signed with Larisa of the Greek Basket League.[17] In 25 league games, he averaged 11.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists, playing around 20 minutes per contest.

On August 8, 2022, Marić signed with MoraBanc Andorra of the LEB Oro.[18] He averaged 10.4 points and 5.6 rebounds in 31 games during the 2022–23 season.[19] He re-joined Andorra for the 2023–24 season, with the team now in the Liga ACB.[19]

On May 21, 2024, Marić joined Changsha Wantian Yongsheng of the National Basketball League.[20]

National team career

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Marić made his international debut in 2012 for the Croatian national under-18 team at the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, where he won a gold medal.[21] In 2013, he played for the Croatian under-19 team at the FIBA Under-19 World Championship. In 2014, he played for the Croatian under-20 team at the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.[22]

References

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  1. ^ Severson, Jesse (11 December 2015). "Maric major reason for hot start". daily-chronicle.com. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  2. ^ a b Phillips, Scott (8 May 2017). "DePaul gets potential impact grad transfer in Northern Illinois center Marin Maric". nbcsports.com. Retrieved 5 November 2019. ...pulled his name out of the NBA Draft process and committed to the Blue Demons.
  3. ^ "Marin Maric - Men's Basketball". DePaul University Athletics. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  4. ^ "Marin Maric". niuhuskies.com. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  5. ^ "DePaul's Marin Maric relishing final college season". 247sports.com. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  6. ^ "Marin Maric Game Logs". RealGM.com. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  7. ^ "Marin Maric". eurobasket.com. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Demir İnşaat Büyükçekmece, Marin Maric'i transfer etti". haberturk.com (in Turkish). 12 April 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  9. ^ "Kroatische center Maric naar BC Oostende". nieuwsblad.be (in Dutch). 31 July 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  10. ^ "BC Oostende's Marin Maric out for season with elbow injury". sportando.basketball. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Marin Maric naar Crelan Okapi Aalstar". basketbalnieuws.com (in Dutch). 10 July 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  12. ^ "Marin Maric is EuroMillions MVP of the Week". EuroMillions Basketball League. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  13. ^ a b "Marin Maric signs with Lietkabelis". Sportando. June 19, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  14. ^ a b "Marin Maric inks with KK Split". Sportando. December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  15. ^ "Ironi Ness Ziona announces signing of Croatian center Marin Maric". Sportando. September 19, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  16. ^ "Hvala vam, Marin!". twitter.com/ironinessziona (in Hebrew). November 3, 2021. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  17. ^ Chelidze, Dimitri (December 16, 2021). "Marin Maric (ex I.Nes Ziona) signs at Larissa BC". Eurobasket. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  18. ^ "Marin Maric joins MoraBanc Andorra". Sportando. August 8, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  19. ^ a b "Marin Maric". eurobasket.com. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  20. ^ 赵紫名 (May 21, 2024). "克罗地亚国手加盟,长沙勇胜男篮迎来大中锋". icswb.com (in Chinese). Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  21. ^ Severson, Jesse (27 March 2016). "NIU men's basketball: Croatian big man adjusting to life in America". daily-chronicle.com. Retrieved 5 November 2019. Maric had finished up school in Croatia and was coming off being a part of his country's U18 team that won the gold medal at the 2012 FIBA Euro Cup...
  22. ^ "Marin Maric". fiba.com. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
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