{{Short description|Slovenian basketball player & coach (born 1966)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Jure Zdovc | image = Jure Zdovc (2015).jpg | image_size = | caption = Zdovc with Slovenia in 2015 | position = Head coach | league = | team = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1966|12|13}} | birth_place = Slovenske Konjice, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia | nationality = Slovenian | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 6 | weight_lb = 195 | draft_year = 1988 | career_start = 1984 | career_end = 2003 | career_position = Point guard | coach_start = 1997 | coach_end = | years1 = 1984–1991 | team1 = Smelt Olimpija | years2 = 1991–1992 | team2 = Knorr Bologna | years3 = 1992–1993 | team3 = Limoges | years4 = 1993–1996 | team4 = Iraklis Thessaloniki | years5 = 1997 | team5 = PSG Racing | years6 = 1997 | team6 = Tofaş | years7 = 1998–2000 | team7 = Union Olimpija | years8 = 2000–2001 | team8 = Panionios | years9 = 2001–2002 | team9 = Union Olimpija | years10 = 2002–2003 | team10 = Slovan | years11 = 2003 | team11 = Split CO | cyears1 = 1997–1998 | cteam1 = Comet Slovenske Konjice (assistant) | cyears2 = 2003 | cteam2 = Krka (assistant) | cyears3 = 2003–2004 | cteam3 = Split | cyears4 = 2004 | cteam4 = Geoplin Slovan | cyears5 = 2005–2006 | cteam5 = Iraklis Thessaloniki | cyears6 = 2007–2008 | cteam6 = Bosna | cyears7 = 2008–2011 | cteam7 = Union Olimpija | cyears8 = 2008–2009 | cteam8 = Slovenia | cyears9 = 2011–2013 | cteam9 = Spartak Saint Petersburg | cyears10 = 2014–2015 | cteam10 = Slovenia | cyears11 = 2013–2015 | cteam11 = Royal Halı Gaziantep | cyears12 = 2014–2016 | cteam12 = Slovenia | cyears13 = 2015–2017 | cteam13 = AEK | cyears14 = 2017–2018 | cteam14 = Cedevita | cyears15 = 2019–2020 | cteam15 = Petrol Olimpija | cyears16 = 2020–2021 | cteam16 = Metropolitans 92 | cyears17 = 2021–2022 | cteam17 = Žalgiris Kaunas | cyears18 = 2023–2024 | cteam18 = Bursaspor | cyears19 = 2025–2026 | cteam19 = PAOK | highlights = '''As a player:''' * EuroLeague champion (1993) * 3× FIBA European Selection (1990, 1991 2×) * FIBA EuroStar (1996) * 2× Greek League All-Star (1994 II, 1996 II) * 2× French League champion (1993, 1997) * Adriatic League champion (2002) * Adriatic League Final Four MVP (2002) * Croatian League champion (2003) * 2× Slovenian League champion (1999, 2002) * 3× Slovenian Cup winner (1999, 2000, 2002) * 2× Slovenian League All-Star (1999, 2000) * Slovenian Athletes Hall of Fame (2015) '''As a head coach:''' * EuroCup Coach of the Year (2012) * Adriatic League Super Cup winner (2017) * Lithuanian King Mindaugas Cup winner (2022) * Croatian League champion (2018) * 2× Croatian Cup winner (2004, 2018) * Slovenian League champion (2009) * 3× Slovenian Cup winner (2009–2011) * Slovenian Supercup winner (2010) * Bosnian League champion (2008) | FIBA_HOF_player = Jure-Zdovc | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's basketball}} {{MedalCountry|{{bk|YUG}}}} {{MedalCompetition|Summer Olympic Games}} {{MedalSilver|1988 Seoul|}} {{MedalCompetition|FIBA World Cup}} {{MedalGold|1990 Argentina|}} {{MedalCompetition|EuroBasket}} {{MedalGold|1989 Yugoslavia|}} {{MedalGold|1991 Italy|}} {{MedalCompetition|European Championship for Juniors}} {{MedalBronze|1984 Sweden|Under-18}} {{MedalCompetition|European Championship for Cadets}} {{MedalGold|1983 West Germany|Under-16}} }}
'''Jurij''' "'''Jure'''" '''Zdovc''' (born 13 December 1966) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player and coach who last served as the head coach of PAOK of the Greek Basketball League and the FIBA Europe Cup.<ref>https://www.paokbc.gr/el/nea/omadas/3054-jure-zdovc-mateco</ref> As a player, he was a {{convert|1.98|m|ftin|abbr=on}} tall point guard, who began his professional playing career with the Yugoslav Second Division club Smelt Olimpija.
During his playing career, he was a three-time member of the FIBA European Selection, in the years 1990 and 1991 (twice), and a FIBA EuroStar selection, in 1996. He also represented both the senior Yugoslav national team, and the senior Slovenian national team. He was inducted into the Slovenian Athletes Hall of Fame in 2015. He was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2020.
As a basketball coach, Zdovc received the EuroCup Coach of the Year award in 2012, while he was the head coach of the Russian club Spartak Saint Petersburg.
==Playing career== ===Club career=== As a junior level player, Zdovc began his playing career with Comet Slovenske Konjice. He also played for the junior teams of Smelt Olimpija. During his senior men's pro club career, he played for the following teams: the senior men's team of Smelt Olimpija, Knorr Bologna, Limoges CSP, Iraklis Thessaloniki, Helios Suns, PSG Racing, Tofaş, Panionios Athens, Geoplin Slovan, and Split CO.
With the French club Limoges CSP, Zdovc won the EuroLeague's 1992–93 season championship, and he was voted to the EuroLeague All-Final Four Team. He also won the French League's 1992–93 season championship, while playing with Limoges. In 1997, as a Paris Racing player, he also won the French League championship.
While playing with Union Olimpija, Zdovc won two Slovenian Premier League championships, and three Slovenian Cups. With the same club, he also won the 2001–02 season's championship of the Adriatic League, and he was voted the 2002 Adriatic League Final Four MVP. With Split Croatia, he won the 2003 Croatian Premier League championship.
===Yugoslav national team=== Zdovc was a member of the senior Yugoslavia National Squad.<ref>[http://www.fibaeurope.com/cid_3-I9xIK,H52ZNfYSgahgJ0.inplayer_on.inteam_on.intext_on.infoto_on.search_jurij%20Zdovc.articlesPage_1.coid_ieu0skf5GLYte4dBxUFTs1.html DIVAC, ZDOVC RECALL A GREAT BUT TRAGIC ERA.]</ref> With Yugoslavia, he won the silver medal at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics.<ref>[https://www.euroleague.net/news/voices/2011-2012/vladimir-stankovic/i/96252/jure-zdovc-the-golden-slovenian Jure Zdovc - The Golden Slovenian>.]</ref><ref>[https://www.euroleague.net/news/voices/2011-2012/vladimir-stankovic/i/96252/jure-zdovc-the-golden-slovenian 101 Greats: Jure Zdovc.]</ref> As a member of Yugoslavia's national selection, he also won gold medals at the 1989 EuroBasket, the 1990 FIBA World Championship, and the 1991 EuroBasket.
===Slovenian national team=== As a member of the senior Slovenian national team, Zdovc played at the following major FIBA international tournaments: the 1992 FIBA European Olympic Qualifying Tournament,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160311072536/http://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/p/rpp//q/Jure%20Zdovc/pid//_//players.html Jure ZDOVC.]</ref> the 1993 EuroBasket, the 1995 EuroBasket, the 1997 EuroBasket, and the 1999 EuroBasket.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160311071905/http://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/p/rpp//q/Jurij%20Zdovc/pid//_//players.html Jurij ZDOVC (SLO).]</ref>
==Coaching career== ===Clubs=== Zdovc first worked as a basketball coach in the 1997–98 season, with Comet Slovenske Konjice, where he worked as an assistant. That was still during his active playing career, but during a time in which he was not playing, due to a long-term injury that he suffered while he was playing with the Turkish Super League club Tofaş. After he retired from playing professional club basketball in 2003, Zdovc started his full-time basketball coaching career as the head coach of the Croatian Premier League club Split Croatia. He stayed the head coach of Split Croatia until 2004, and led the team to a first-place finish in the Croatian Cup. In the 2006–07 season, he was the sports director of Union Olimpija.
Zdovc also won the Bosnia and Herzegovina League championship with Bosna in 2008. In 2009, he won the Slovenian Premier League championship with Union Olimpija. Zdovc also won the Slovenian Cup title three times in a row with Union Olimpija, in the years 2009, 2010, and 2011. He also led Union Olimpija to the top Top-16 stage of the EuroLeague's 2010–11 season.
Zdovc was named the EuroCup Coach of the Year in 2012.<ref>[https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/?smid=3742 Eurocupbasketball.com 2011-12 Eurocup Coach of the Year: Jure Zdovc, Spartak St. Petersburg.]</ref> On 20 December 2015, he signed a three-year contract with the Greek Basket League club AEK Athens.<ref>[http://www.aekbc.gr/el/articles-612/zntobt-ew-to-2018.htm Zdovc moves to AEK until 2018.]</ref> He was dismissed in the role by AEK Athens, in March 2017, after his team lost a 2016–17 FIBA Champions League game against the French Pro A League club AS Monaco.<ref>[http://www.sportando.com/en/europe/greece/228554/aek-athens-jure-zdovc-part-ways.html AEK Athens, Jure Zdovc part ways.]</ref>
On 14 June 2017, Zdovc was named as the head coach of the Croatian club Cedevita Zagreb, as he replaced Veljko Mršić in that role.<ref>[http://www.sportando.com/en/europe/croatia/236985/kk-cedevita-name-jure-zdovc-head-coach.html KK Cedevita name Jure Zdovc head coach.]</ref> He was later sacked by the club on 6 June 2018.<ref>[https://gol.dnevnik.hr/clanak/rubrika/kosarka/razisli-se-cedevita-i-trener-jure-zdovc---519814.html Razišli se Cedevita i Jure Zdovc.]</ref>
On 7 May 2020, Zdovc signed on to be the head coach of the Metropolitans 92 of the French LNB Pro A.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://sportando.basketball/en/jure-zdovc-is-officially-the-new-head-coach-of-metropolitans-92/|title=Jure Zdovc is officially the new head coach of Metropolitans 92|date=7 May 2020|newspaper=Sportando|language=En|access-date=1 July 2020}}</ref> Zdovc worked with Žalgiris Kaunas in the 2021–2022 season, though had a very tumultuous season, resigning in April. With Žalgiris, Zdovc won the 2022 King Mindaugas Cup.
On 7 July 2023, he signed with Bursaspor of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://basketfaul.com/haber?haber=109057|title=Bursaspor'a tanıdık koç|date=July 7, 2023|publisher=basketfaul|language=tr|access-date=July 7, 2023}}</ref> On 16 January 2024, Zdovc and Bursaspor parted ways.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-16 |title=Zdovc and Bursaspor separated the ways. |url=https://www.ntvspor.net/basketbol/bursaspor-info-yatirim-jure-zdovc-ile-yollarini-ayirdi-65a6c5c463b1ce005a0331f9 |website=ntvspor.net}}</ref>
On 1 July 2025, Zdovc was named as the head coach of PAOK Thessaloniki of the Greek Basketball League. The club released him on 2 March 2026.
===National teams=== In 2009, Zdovc was named the head coach of the senior men's Slovenian national team. He guided Slovenia to a fourth-place finish at the 2009 EuroBasket. In 2014, Zdovc returned to coach Slovenia, after signing a three-year contract to coach the team.<ref>[http://www.fibaeurope.com/coid_eRBkZg5II7-K2ASDgK40W3.articleMode_on.html Zdovc moves to Slovenian national basketball team.]</ref> He coached Slovenia at the 2014 FIBA World Cup, and the 2015 EuroBasket.
==Head coaching record== {{Euroleague coach statistics legend}}
===EuroLeague=== <ref>[https://www.euroleague.net/competition/coaches/showcoach?pcode=APU ZDOVC, JURE Career Record EuroLeague.]</ref> {{Euroleague coach statistics start}} |- | align="left" rowspan=3|Union Olimpija | align="left"|2008–09 | 2 || 0 || 2 || {{Winning percentage|0|2}} || align="center"|Eliminated in regular season |- | align="left"|2009–10 | 10 || 1 || 9 || {{Winning percentage|1|9}} || align="center"|Eliminated in regular season |- | align="left"|2010–11 | 16 || 7 || 9 || {{Winning percentage|7|9}} || align="center"|Eliminated in Top 16 stage |- | align="left"|Žalgiris Kaunas | align="left"|2021–22 | 28 || 8 || 20 || {{Winning percentage|8|20}}|| align="center"|Eliminated in regular season |- |-class="sortbottom" | align="center" colspan=2|'''Career'''||56||16||40||{{Winning percentage|16|40}}|| {{s-end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20160311071905/http://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/p/rpp//q/Jurij%20Zdovc/pid//_//players.html Jurij Zdovc] at fiba archive 1<small>(as a player)</small> *[https://web.archive.org/web/20160311072536/http://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/p/rpp//q/Jure%20Zdovc/pid//_//players.html Jure Zdovc] at fiba archive 2 <small>(as a player)</small> *[http://www.fibaeurope.com/compID_3PFNKyhLHWIYKHG2fZORy3.season_2003.roundID_3553.playerID_2652.teamID_2221.html Jurij Zdovc] at fibaeurope.com <small>(as a player)</small> *[https://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?pcode=APU#!careerstats Jure Zdovc] at euroleague.net <small>(as a player)</small> *[https://www.euroleague.net/competition/coaches/showcoach?pcode=APU Jure Zdovc] at euroleague.net <small>(as a coach)</small> *[https://www.proballers.com/basketball/player/1637/jurij-zdovc Jure Zdovc] at proballers.com <small>(as a player)</small> *[https://basketball.eurobasket.com/coach/Jure-Zdovc/Boulogne-Levallois-Metropolitans/8643 Jure Zdovc] at eurobasket.com
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zdovc, Jure}} Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:1990 FIBA World Championship players Category:ABA League players Category:AEK B.C. coaches Category:Basketball executives Category:Basketball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:BC Spartak Saint Petersburg coaches Category:BC Žalgiris coaches Category:Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Category:Expatriate basketball coaches Category:FIBA EuroBasket–winning players Category:FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Category:FIBA World Championship–winning players Category:Goodwill Games gold medalists Category:Goodwill Games medalists in basketball Category:Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C. coaches Category:Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C. players Category:KD Slovan players Category:KK Bosna Royal coaches Category:KK Cedevita coaches Category:KK Olimpija coaches Category:KK Olimpija players Category:KK Split players Category:Levallois Metropolitans coaches Category:Limoges CSP players Category:Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic basketball players for Yugoslavia Category:Olympic medalists in basketball Category:Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Category:Panionios B.C. players Category:P.A.O.K. BC coaches Category:Paris Racing Basket players Category:People from the Municipality of Slovenske Konjice Category:Point guards Category:Shooting guards Category:Slovenia national basketball team coaches Category:Slovenian basketball coaches Category:Slovenian expatriate basketball people in France Category:Slovenian expatriate basketball people in Greece Category:Slovenian expatriate basketball people in Italy Category:Slovenian expatriate basketball people in Lithuania Category:Slovenian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Category:Slovenian men's basketball players Category:Basketball players from Maribor Category:Virtus Bologna players Category:Yugoslav men's basketball players