The 17-year-old is hungry to lead Mega to its second crown following 2022 success
Ognjen Srzentic: 'I am motivated to finally win a NextGen title'
Makale
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Ognjen Srzentic has been at this place before, knowing he will be playing at the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Finals at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four with U18 Mega MIS Belgrade. But this time, Srzentic wants to finally hoist the trophy as the continent’s best junior club when it’s all said and done.
Srzentic was named the Most Valuable Player after Mega downed the U18 NextGen Team Istanbul 86-70 to take the crown at the NextGen Istanbul event and book a ticket for the Finals.
“It means a lot [to be MVP]. I put in so much work to be here,” said Srzentic, who collected 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.0 steals for an average PIR of 30.5 in helping Mega go undefeated in Istanbul.
“Ognjen is a good guy with a great personality. He also has really great skills at both ends of the court. And he’s definitely a leader of this team,” said Mega head coach Milan Vidosavljevic.
Srzentic was playing his third NextGen qualifying tournament and played his best one by far, scoring 25 or more points three times in Istanbul after totaling 38 points at the NextGen Belgrade tournament last season.
Mega will be playing in the Finals for the ninth straight edition and it will be the third for Srzentic, who played just 1 minute in the 2023 Finals in Kaunas before averaging 6.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals in the 2024 Finals.
“I am extra motivated because I played twice in the Finals and both times only lost one game in the group stage and never played in the championship game. So I am motivated to win it all,” he said.
In Kaunas in 2023, Mega lost 89-81 to the NextGen Select Team in the group stage and was defeated 60-55 against U18 Real Madrid in the 2024 Finals group phase.
One season earlier, the 2017 and 2019 finalist Mega finally claimed its first – and still only – continental trophy in the competition, winning the 2022 crown as it downed the NextGen Select Team in the Championship Game. That was also Srzentic’s first season with Mega. And winning the youth title has been on his mind ever since.
“This is my fourth year in the club. From day one, when I came here, the goal was clear: to play in the NextGen tournament. That was the biggest goal for me as a 14-year-old kid who came to Mega. So it means the world to me to be a part of this tournament, and I would love to help my club win the second title.”
One of the things that makes Srzentic’s performance in Istanbul so much more impressive is that he doesn’t play with the Mega junior team this season. He has been playing on loan with Serbian first league side OKK Belgrade and averaging 8.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.9 steals, though he did play in all three of Mega’s games in the U19 ABA League. Still, the NextGen games were a chance to play with his old friends.
“This the fourth year that some of these guys have been my teammates, so I am really happy to be playing with them and I am really proud that we played together for four years,” he said.
But Srzentic has been helped by playing with OKK Belgrade.
“Playing senior basketball is a really big experience for me. I play against players who are sometimes 20 years older than me, who play for money and have families who they have to support,” he said. “This year is really important for me to get experience at senior basketball.
I am really happy I was able to translate that experience to this level of youth basketball.”
And now Srzentic will get one last chance to lead his Mega teammates at the NextGen Finals – looking for that elusive second continental title for the club.