Point guard from Montenegro looking at Hawaii
The Hawaii basketball team is in the running for an elite European point guard.
Andrej Pajovic, a former starting point guard on one of Montenegro’s junior national teams, has Hawaii high on his list of colleges for next season. In the team photo at right, he is in the middle of the front row, wearing No. 5.
Pajovic, who is 6 feet 1 and 175 pounds, is currently in his final season at Wilbraham & Monson Academy (a prep school in Massachusetts). He is averaging around 22 points and 6 assists per game this season, and is ranked among the top 25 recruits in Massachusetts, according to New England Recruiting Report.
“There are schools all over the map who are looking at Andrej,” Wilbraham & Monson coach Chris Sparks said. “But Hawaii is definitely up there.”
Among the other programs recruiting Pajovic are Iowa, San Diego, Utah State and numerous mid-major teams.
“He has a real good feel for the game; he’s a capable shooter with some range, and he’s a real effective leader,” Sparks said. “The most impressive stat with him is his assist-to-turnover ratio. It’s about 2 to 1. He’s just terrific in terms of running a team and taking care of the ball.”
Sparks also described Pajovic as “our best and most consistent player this year” for a Wilbraham & Monson team that features several players who have either signed with or are being recruited by high-major Division I programs. Braeden Anderson, a talented forward who was being recruited by Hawaii earlier, is also on the Wilbraham & Monson roster.
“We’ve got a bunch of talented kids,” Sparks said. “But Andrej is the guy who makes the team better.”
Pajovic was the starter on Montenegro’s Under 16 National Team before coming to America to follow a fellow Montenegro player to Wilbraham & Monson.
Sparks noted that Hawaii head coach Gib Arnold has experience recruiting players from Europe. Nikola Vucevic, who has emerged as the top post player in the Pac-10 this season, was recruited to USC out of Montenegro by Arnold when he was an assistant coach for the Trojans.
“I know Gib Arnold has some connections with players from Montenegro, so that could help,” Sparks said.
Here is video from a few years ago of Pajovic playing in Montenegro:
And here is a more current video (it’s difficult to follow, but Pajovic is No. 5 in the blue jersey):
Hard decisions to make ,does Gib sign jc guard Pierre Jackson ,older more athletic guard or take a chance on this kid, Pierre is also a shooter and ball handler with hops.
Thing is, Gib and his staff are undoubtedly looking at more recruits (a lot more, probably) who have yet to surface. Hard decisions, indeed.
one point, one big, one best athlete.
Can anyone say Predrag Savovic?! Pajovic could be a nice get. The thing I took most from what his coach said about him was his assist-to-turnover ratio. Turnovers have been the biggest problem for this year’s team, problems that Miles & Thompson have had all season. Jackson might be more athletic and have the hops, but if Pajovic is that efficient/low turnover kind-of point guard, I’d take him if I had to choose between the two. But if you’re looking at more experienced and athletic, it’s Jackson all the way. Either way this is a good look for the basketball program, with the amount of interest from recruits all over the nation. Hopefully, most of these recruits won’t just be “interested” but sign that L.O.I. in the coming months.