UCLA Men's Basketball Signs Lazar Stefanovic
April 22, 2023 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – The UCLA men's basketball program has received a signed grant-in-aid from Lazar Stefanovic, a 6-foot-7 guard from Belgrade, Serbia, as announced on Saturday by Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach.
Lazar Stefanovic (pronounced lah-zar stef-ON-no-vitch) will transfer to UCLA after spending his freshman and sophomore seasons at the University of Utah. Stefanovic will join the Bruins' program as a junior in 2023-24.
"Lazar is a great kid who really wanted to be a Bruin," Cronin said. "He wants to win and work hard to improve. Lazar can score and has been a very good three-point shooter, which we need with the departure of our team's seniors. I've been very impressed with Lazar as a player, whenever we have scouted him as an opponent. We are very excited to welcome him to UCLA, and we're happy that he is now a Bruin."
Stefanovic played in all 63 games for Utah during the past two seasons, making 33 starts. Most recently, he averaged 10.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in 32 contests as a sophomore in 2022-23. He shot 35.9 percent from 3-point distance last season, which ranked No. 15 in the Pac-12. In addition, he knocked down 86.8 percent of his free throw attempts (46-for-53). Stefanovic scored in double figures in 16 of 32 contests last season, totaling at least 20 points in three games.
Through 63 career games at Utah, Stefanovic averaged 8.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per contest. He shot 36.7 percent from the field and 33.8 percent from 3-point distance (88-for-260). Stefanovic shot over 83 percent at the free throw line in each of his two seasons with the Runnin' Utes, compiling a career percentage of 85.1 (86-for-101). In 2021-22, he was one of five student-athletes named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team.
Stefanovic has scored at least 10 points in 26 career games – 16 contests as a sophomore (2022-23) and 10 games as a freshman (2021-22). He knocked down six 3-pointers in two games last season, going 6-for-8 against Jacksonville State (Dec. 8, 2022) and 6-for-14 from long range versus Stanford (Feb. 2, 2023). Stefanovic finished that home contest against Stanford with a career-high 26 points (10-for-22 FGs).
Stefanovic becomes UCLA's third transfer student-athlete in the past four years, joining Johnny Juzang (summer of 2020) and Myles Johnson (summer of 2021). He arrived in the United States prior to the 2021-22 school year with plenty of FIBA experience with the Serbian National Team. Stefanovic most recently competed for the Serbian National Team at the FIBA U19 World Championships in 2021 (averaged 12.4 points, 4.3 rebounds in seven games).
