Wichita State’s secret recruiting weapon in landing Croatian big man Matej Bošnjak

After playing professional basketball in Croatia the past three seasons, few college basketball teams were aware of Matej Bošnjak’s willingness to come to the United States.

But it had to be the right situation to convince the 6-foot-9 center to leave his home country.

Thanks to Paul Mills’ connections in the coaching world, Wichita State was one of the select few programs with Bošnjak on its radar. But the Shockers also had a secret weapon in the recruiting battle: Ognjen Stranjina, Mills’ director of recruiting.

Stranjina, who hails from Serbia, and Bošnjak both hail from the Balkans, and while the Croatian and Serbian languages aren’t exactly the same, there is significant overlap. Knowing he could communicate with someone in his native language while in Wichita played a role in Bošnjak’s decision to become a Shocker, he told The Eagle.

“Without him, I don’t want to say I would be lost, but it would definitely be a lot tougher without him,” Bošnjak said. “He’s been a great help so far and he’s kind of been my connection to back home. It’s been a lot easier here with him, having someone I can talk to in my language.”

Before making his own trek to America in 2021 to become a graduate assistant on Mills’ staff at Oral Roberts, Stranjina worked as the director of scouting for Balkan Prospects for three years. During that time, he distinctly remembers scouting Bošnjak as a promising junior prospect in the Adriatic Junior Basketball League.

Now with almost four years of living in America under his belt, Stranjina was more than happy to provide the help to Bošnjak that he didn’t have when he immigrated.

“It’s a lot different when you have an American coach talking to you (compared to) somebody from your region because I know the differences between the two cultures and the two kinds of basketball,” Stranjina said. “And I know how the European basketball system works. I could tell him, ‘If you come here, this will be better, this will be worse.’ And then you draw the line and see if it works for you coming here.”

Bošnjak already knew a solid amount of English, so his transition to Wichita has been relatively smooth. He understands nearly all of the coaches’ instructions during practice, but when they delve into the unique vernacular of Mills’ system, Bošnjak does lean on Stranjina every now and then for a quick translation. Stranjina said he has been a quick learner.

And like anyone moving to a foreign country, there was some culture shock — like air conditioning, for starters — but Bošnjak has adjusted quickly to living by himself in an apartment. He doesn’t yet own a car, so Stranjina is currently acting as his personal assistant — driving him to practice, class and the grocery store.

“The transition is easier for him than it was for me because I had to experience everything on my own,” Stranjina said. “When I drive him to Trader Joe’s, I can tell him, ‘Buy this, buy that, don’t buy that. This is good, this is not very good.’ And then Matej is a very friendly guy, so he doesn’t have a problem meeting new people and adjusting to new environments. He knows how to be a professional and that’s how he treats this. He already has a routine and he’s finding his rhythm.”

When it has come to basketball, Bošnjak has looked right at home since arriving in mid-August. That was somewhat expected after he averaged 7.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists while starting as a 21-year-old against much older competition in the Adriatic Basketball League, but Bošnjak has still managed to exceed the expectations of Mills so far.

“He’s just a phenomenal young man who works his rear-end off,” Mills said. “Any time you have a kid with character and work ethic, you know you’re dealing with the right kid. To be honest with you, he’s better than what I thought. He’s a good player. Extremely skilled. He’s really going to help us. You can tell, he’s a kid who wants to add value to a team and he is about the right things.”

But before Bošnjak can help the Shockers this upcoming season, he first needs eligibility from the NCAA. Mills told reporters two weeks ago that paperwork from Bošnjak’s grades while attending university in Croatia had been submitted to the NCAA and he feels “good about everything that’s been presented.” The case is still ongoing, a WSU spokesperson confirmed on Monday.

Mills said Stranjina has even helped with that process, as well.

“We would have had to hire somebody who speaks and reads Croatian transcripts,” Mills said. “OG knows what he is good at, and when he does it, he absolutely kills it. He’s handled his job phenomenally.”

No matter how slam-dunk the case may be, WSU fans have the right to be skeptical after the NCAA has recently blocked two former high-profile transfers in Teddy Allen (2018) and Colby Rogers (2022).

While Bošnjak awaits an answer, he is allowed to continue practicing with the team, but cannot compete in outside competition. That means he is in danger of missing WSU’s closed scrimmage against Oklahoma State on Oct. 12 and the clock is ticking on whether Bošnjak will be cleared in time for the Nov. 4 season-opener at Western Kentucky.

Until then, Bošnjak continues to work on his craft in practice. He has particularly enjoyed his 1-on-1 work with WSU assistant coach Quincy Acy, a big man himself who has a decade of NBA experience.

“I cannot express more gratitude,” Bošnjak said. “Just a few weeks of working with him, it’s already like a night-and-day difference with the things that I see and can do from a technical standpoint. I’m always asking him questions, wanting to learn from him. He’s been great to work with.”

It’s become clear in two months of practice, WSU is a better team with Bošnjak.

The common sentiment around the program is that you can tell the 22-year-old has been playing professional basketball — by his physique, by his intelligence and by his play. He already is WSU’s most polished scorer in the low block, but has also shown a good amount of touch stepping outside and knocking down 3-pointers when his defender leaves him too much space.

“You can just tell that (Bošnjak) is a lot more mature and has been playing professionally,” WSU senior guard Xavier Bell said. “He knows where to be on defense and he knows how to play the game. So to see that level of experience from a guy who just got here, it’s amazing for us.”

While last season’s two-center experiment was largely a bust, it’s not hard to imagine Mills finding more success this upcoming season by playing Bošnjak alongside his other star big man, Quincy Ballard, given their different skill sets.

At the very least, they promise to make each other better throughout the season.

“That is the iron sharpens iron proverb right there,” Mills said. “It’s going to help Quincy tremendously going up against him every day and it’s going to help Matej tremendously going up against that every day.”

“Quincy really is one of a kind, a freak of nature,” Bošnjak said. “He’s so big and so tall and so athletic. I couldn’t ask for a better practice partner to get better with. Hopefully we’ll both get better and we can win a lot of games together and go to the (NCAA) Tournament.”