BasketballNcaa

Harun Zrno: “Europe basketball can’t compete against NCAA”

Paolo Mutarelli
Harun Zrno

It was the summer of the explosion of NIL and the consequent mass exodus of European talents – of all ages – to the United States. Larger rosters, more substantial resources added to the already enticing American educational offer which – through scholarships, degree programs, and life experience – had already made the transition easier before.

Harun Zrno is one of those who seized the opportunity: born in 2004 (the same year as Stephon Castle, now in his second NBA season), the Bosnian chose Rutgers after having played professionally across Europe. We interviewed him and talked about the recruitment process, which was very complicated due to a decommitment from Indiana.

Thanks to Nikola Knezevic from Agency55 NIL for the interview granted.

You already have a very diversified European career: you played in Latvia, in Bosnia, in Fiba National Competition. How has your journey been so far?

I have already played in Europe for several years, I think all the seasons helped me a lot to improve mentally, not only in basketball. I’m very happy with how my career is going and I don’t think I’m late anywhere, and here in USA I have a very good opportunity to take everything to the next level.

How did the idea of playing in the NCAA pop out?

A lot of players from Europe started deciding to come to the US. My thinking started when my friend went to NCAA and somehow I started thinking about it too, honestly, NIL and everything about it is at a much higher level than in Europe. I don’t think the teams in Europe can match the NCAA yet.

Your recruiting story has been quite eventful: you first committed to Indiana under the previous coach Woodson and were courted by many teams like Villanova, Miami, Kentucky before ending up at Rutgers. Let’s start with Indiana: how was that experience? Tell us about coach Woodson.

The experience with Indiana and Coach Woodson was really great. Indiana as a college is a really big name in basketball and they have a huge history behind them. What drew me to commit to Indiana in the first place was Coach Woodson. He is a very good coach who has worked with many NBA players and he has coached very good players, one of the best was Carmelo Anthony. I liked his vision of me on the field and honestly, the role in the team that I would get there

During our interviews, we often ask players about their experience with the transfer portal, but since you are a freshman, we ask: how does a decommit work? Do you just go to the coach and explain it, or is it a more complicated process?

The process of decommit is not difficult at all, all you need to do is contact the people on the team and inform them that you have made the decision to reopen the recruitment for certain reasons. On the other hand, there is also examples where teams find out on the social media that their player has opened recruitment. So it’s not big deal at all

Moving on to Rutgers: what convinced you about the program? What is coach Steve Pikiell like?

Honestly, after visiting many schools and contacting many of them, I can say that this was the easiest decision for me in my short career. I didn’t go on a visit, and my conversation with coach Pikiell lasted 30 minutes. I had nothing to add or say that he hadn’t already said. He said everything I asked for and needed to come to the NCAA. His vision of me and the things he could help me improve my game on were enough to keep me from overthinking my decision. I am very happy to be a part of Rutgers University and to be able to spend every day with them and grow. Amazing group of people.

Let’s talk about NIL: now that international athletes have also lost it, what role did NIL play in your recruiting process?

Of course, NIL was quite important to me, but I can’t say that it was the most important because it was more important to find a place where I would get an opportunity and where I could play immediately and have an important role in the team, but I would be lying if I said that NIL was not important to me in this whole process.

What do you expect from your first NCAA season? Rutgers comes off a disappointing season despite having two top ten draft talents: what is the team like and what role has the coach envisioned for you?

I think I will adapt quickly to their style of play and I don’t think there will be any major problems adjusting. I’ve been here for a month now and I’m working hard on improving my game and adapting to their style of play. The players here are much more athletic and much faster, but I think the players from Europe can use other abilities that can be very useful here. That’s right, they have two players in the NBA draft who will most likely go in the top 5. There will certainly be a lot of NBA scouts following Rutgers. My role here will be to bring the experience of playing Pro League in Europe and of course the skills I bring with me. My game will not differ from my last season in BiH, it will just be at an even higher level.

Coach Pikiell has often recruited international players: was that a factor in your recruitment?

To be honest with you, not really. Before they start recruiting me I wasn’t really think about them. So I didn’t know that much. Coach Pikiell was the key person.

Harun Zrno

You are a wing, outstanding shooter and a solid physique that could fit well in the American context. An all-around player. What will you try to improve in this American adventure?

I don’t have anything specific, i will just keep working on every segment of my game. On my shooting, ball handling, physical just everything, I think that im still really young and there is much space to improve everything.

How is going the first months in Rutgers?

So, this summer i got here little bit earlier than others here in Rutgers – at June – just to have that individual work with coaches here. We had workouts until August 9th and after that we had around two weeks gap to go home and rest before we start in September finally preparations for the games. The first  two months of practicing we had went very well. I think we are a very good group of players and we will get better and better as the start of the season approaches. I am very satisfied with the conditions and everything they provide us so that we can be the best we can be every day.

How are the training sessions going? What do you think of the team?

I can say that this way of working suits me, we work a lot on physical fitness and of course on basketball. We have a lot of space for individual work with the coaches and they really try to help us so that we all improve and become better players.

The schedule has come out: which game are you most looking forward to?

I think every school is very interesting and every game will be very difficult to win, but I think we will be a good enough team to achieve that. Personally, I don’t have a favorite game, but if I had to choose any teams, they would be the teams that recruited me.

Last question: at the end of your NCAA journey, what would make you happy to have achieved

NBA is the goal.

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