To add to its offseason of significant turnover, the UNC men’s basketball program turned overseas for a sharpshooting creator.

Luka Bogavac — a 21-year-old, 6-foot-5 guard playing for SC Derby in the premier league of the Western Balkins in Europe — committed to head coach Hubert Davis and the team on Saturday, according to his representation. ESPN and Jonathan Givony first reported the news.

Bogavac is from Montenegro and comes from a basketball family, with his father playing for 14 seasons in the Adriatic League (AdmiralBet ABA League) where Luka has played professionally since 2021. While averaging few minutes in his initial two seasons, Bogavac saw significantly more playing time after joining SC Derby in Montenegro. For the 2024-25 season, he averaged nearly 15 points per game along with 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists in more than 29 minutes per game — all career highs. The 21-year-old also averaged 39.9% from beyond the arc while taking more than five three-pointers a game, and shot more than 45% overall from the floor.

In addition to playing in the ABA League, Bogavac faced top European competition while playing for the Montenegro national team program. He competed in the FIBA U20 European Championship in both 2022 and 2023 before joining the roster of the senior national team for the 2024 FIBA Olympic qualifiers and the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket Qualifiers.

The commitment from Bogavac marks the first international transfer of Davis’ coaching tenure and since general manager Jim Tanner joined the program in the spring. In his introduction announcement, Carolina Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham included a mention of Tanner seeking not just the top talent within the United States but “throughout the international game.”

As of Saturday, all of UNC men’s basketball’s other offseason additions have primarily played stateside. Bogavac will join wing players Jonathan Powell (West Virginia) and Jaydon Young (Virginia Tech), guard Kyan Evans (Colorado State), forward Jarin Stevenson (Alabama), center Henri Veesaar (Arizona), and incoming freshmen Caleb Wilson, Derek Dixon and Isaiah Denis.

 

Featured photo via Buducnost VOLI/Filip Roganovic and ABA Liga.

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