The Gators have gotten one step closer to finalizing their 2024-25 roster by announcing the commitment of center Viktor Mikic who will enter college as a freshman.
Mikic is a 6’11”, 235 center originally hailing from the basketball-crazed country of Serbia that has been producing elite hoops talent for decades. Identified as a quality player from early in teens, he was offered a position on the development roster of prestigious club Partizan Belgrade. Partizan is one of the top basketball clubs in all of Europe, and they have a reputation for developing elite homegrown talent. After spending a couple of years in the U19 Partizan system, he moved to Dunav to play in the top league in Serbia and cut his teeth against professionals. This was while he was a mere 17 year old, and while there were growing pains, he was able to learn quickly playing in important games against men and finished the season averaging 6.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
Where Mikic really started to get buzz was at the Adidas Next Generation tournament, an event featuring some of the top young players in Europe. In two summers playing in this key recruiting event, Mikic turned heads with his great size and production averaging 12.7 points and 8.4 rebounds while impacting the defensive end with his rim protection.
Hoping to play college basketball but not having the buzz he expected after some tremendous performances in Europe, Mikic made the huge decision to come to America for his final year of high school and compete for Hamilton Heights in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Hamilton Heights is a perennial powerhouse and has produced a number of top division-1 talent, including a number of centers. Mikic played well, but given that this was the final season where players could use a fifth year of eligibility, high school recruiting was still down, and he didn’t get many looks past the mid-major level until teams like Rutgers and ultimately Florida jumped in.
As a player, Mikic possesses great size and will not be out of place in the SEC at 6’11” and 235 pounds. Not only does he have true big man size, but he embraces the types of things you need from a center–physicality, toughness, and motor. Mikic takes tremendous pride in his ability to rebound the ball on both ends, and considering Florida’s reliance on offensive rebounding Mikic is going to fit in just fine. Offensively he’s someone who can take a smaller defender on the block and use his size to get to efficient hook shots, but he might be even better as a passer who can see the whole floor and find cutters or open shooters when a double team occurs.
Todd Golden has wanted to make international recruiting a priority since coming to Gainesville and he continues that strategy by landing Mikic.
From a roster value standpoint, this is a tremendous get for the Gators. Centers are still one of the hardest player archetypes to land, and if you followed the transfer portal at all you’ll know that any half decent center from the mid-major level commanded massive attention and was a difficult recruitment. While Mikic won’t be relied on to play a huge role right away, he has the size, skill, and experience to transition to the SEC right away and it wouldn’t be shocking to see him get in the rotation for a few minutes earlier than you might think.