Lethbridge transfer, ACAC first team all-star Karanovic bolsters Griffins' point guard position
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – After filling the stats sheet in a prolific second season with the Lethbridge College Kodiaks, the time was perfect for Filip Karanovic to make the jump to U SPORTS.
With two years of university eligibility remaining, he's transferring to MacEwan in 2024-25, Griffins men's basketball head coach Mike Connolly announced Friday.
The electric point guard, who was named to the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference first all-star team in 2023-24, has the skill-set to make an impression in Canada West right out of the gate.
"We're excited about the impact he's going to have at the point guard position – to be able to play right away and contribute," said Connolly. "Last year we missed having a true point guard. Justace (Byam) was hurt a lot last year, so now we've added two more quality point guards (along with previously-announced recruit Diego Presingular), who are going to play minutes.
"Now we've got good depth there, which will help us get things going offensively."
Karanovic's highlight tape from his first ACAC season at Lethbridge in 2022-23 shows off his fantastic vision, sublime ball control and a full tool-box of moves (hooks, spins, jukes, no-look passes, etc.) he can go to the second pressure comes. He also has a great shooting touch and plays the game with confidence, speed, and a high basketball IQ.
That tape was from when he was named to the ACAC second all-star team, but he was even better in 2023-24, making the first team from the South Division by averaging 20.0 points a game for Lethbridge (eighth in the ACAC) – highlighted by a pair of 32-point games against Olds.
Filip Karanovic tied for eighth in scoring in the ACAC last season, averaging 20.0 points per game (Lexi Barclay photo).
"For him, he doesn't need to score as much (at MacEwan)," said Connolly of the 6-foot-3 Karanovic. "That was the whole thing we discussed – 'you don't need to come in and score as much. You need to come in here and run the offence, be a quarterback and when you're asked to score, when the situation comes up, you have to make it.' That's what he can do.
"Obviously, he takes a lot more shots at LCC than he will with us because he's going to be distributing it to other players who are just as good. I think that's what's key. He's big, strong, physical and he's got a little toughness in him. So, we're excited about that."
That also makes him a multi-cat threat as Karanovic, who had four double doubles in 2023-24, finished second in the ACAC in assists/game (5.3), third in minutes (33.7) and tied for 16th in both rebounds (6.7) and steals (1.6).
The native of Herceg Novi, Montenegro has already made a connection with current Griffin Milan Jaksic, who is a Canadian of Serbian descent. Both will be among a handful of fourth-year veterans MacEwan will have next season as they aim for a return to the Canada West playoffs.
"That's what we need," said Connolly of veteran leadership. "Now we have a bunch of guys in their fourth year. We've got good young guys and now we've added a good veteran guy. That helps us replace some of our losses moving forward. It adds to our depth.
"We've got about nine or 10 guys who can legitimately play some big minutes, so it will be a little bit different next season."
