Luka Brajkovic is a big man from Austria with tremendous mobility and highly intriguing long term potential. Although not being widely recognized in Europe he has numerous options in front of him regarding collegiate career which he is most likely to choose. Luka who was already visited by some schools discussed with Eurospects his recruiting process and career goals:
How is your recruiting process going? Are you taking any visits soon?
Yes I will take an official one next Monday. I’ll visit Davidson. There I want to talk with the Head Coach Bob McKillop about how he thinks I would fit into the system. I choose Davidson because I like the family atmosphere there and they are experienced with European players.
Do you think you are physically ready to compete in NCAA?
Honestly I don’t think that I am physically ready to compete in the NCAA, especially not in the top conferences. That’s why my training goal is to get my body ready for the next level and I think if I continue working as hard as I do now, I will make it. I already gained 33 pounds since last year!
What are you working on the most as far as your game except athletic abilities?
I work a lot on my outside game, but I don’t neglect the interior skills. The reason why I work hard on my outside game is because I want to be able to play both big man positions well. So I try to extend my range to the 3 point line, in order to be able to play some minutes as a modern power forward. But to do this it was also necessary to work on my footwork.
If you decide to stay in Europe for another year it will be Austria or you would also consider playing in some foreign countries?
If I decide to stay in Europe it will be probably Austria, because in foreign countries I would count as a foreign player and every team is only allowed to have specific amount of foreign players. Also there are not a lot of reasons why they should develop me if they know that I will play college basketball after this season. So they would focus more on developing their own players than me. In Austria I am domestic player and I cost nothing as I am not allowed to receive any money because of NCAA rules.
You probably recieve a lot of Jakob Poltl comparisons. Is he someone who you look up to?
He is definitely a person I look up to. He always took the right decision and I hope that I can also take smart decisions, in order to have a successful career. I also like his unselfish style of basketball, so I can learn a lot from him how to behave like a professional.
What are your long terms basketball goals?
My goal is to play professionally and as every basketball player I want to play in the NBA. This is a really high goal, but this motivates me to work hard every day.
