Basketball star Marko Maletic from London, Ont. on verge of professional career

A local athlete is on the verge of a professional basketball career. CTV London's Brent Lale reports.

Marko Maletic is proof that dreams can come true with hard work.

The basketball star from London, Ont. is coming off a stellar season at Western Illinois University and is either of the verge of a big NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) deal from the NCAA worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, or a professional contract.

He averaged 16.4 points per game and shot 47 per cent from three-point range this past season. He made 92 three-point field goals on 194 attempts, however, the Leathernecks basketball team failed to make either their conference or NCAA tournament.

Whether he turns professional will depend on whether he will be granted additional eligibility by the NCAA. It’s unclear if his year at Fanshawe College and another where he sat out will count toward his eligibility.

“Every day it’s like a new a new lawsuit comes into play where some kid feels like he should have got your back,” said Maletic from Macomb, Ill. “He sues the NCAA, and the NCAA can’t do anything, so they give in. We are taking it day by day.”

If he gets another year back, he is hoping to transfer to a major program where he’ll get a massive NIL deal. He is talking to schools in power conferences.

“Pro is a great option, but at the same time, if I get my years back, I’m looking at probably a lot more money than I would look at my first-year pro,” said Maletic.

He’s Canadian, so many schools get around NIL restrictions for international players by taking a foreign trip and getting them money because they are not technically working in the U.S.

“At one point, he was the best shooter in the country,” said Dave Sewell, Maletic’s manager and shooting coach who also works with NBA star Shaedon Sharpe.

“He’s very gifted, and he’s got a crafty Euro-style game. A lot of the Americans call him ‘Baby Luka” (referencing NBA star Luka Doncic) and he can shoot the rock. He’s worked on it a lot. He’s lived in this gym here (The London Lightning training centre) thanks to Vito (Frijia) and, Mark (Frijia) for allowing us to have full access here.”

Getting to his current place hasn’t been easy.

Coming out of Saunders Secondary School, the only offer the 6’6” guard received was from Fanshawe College where Sewell was an assistant coach.

He had a great season winning OCAA Rookie of the Year, and OCAA second-team all-star.

“After that it was just a whirlwind,” said Maletic.

“When COVID happened, I had to go to JuCo (junior college in Laramie County, Wyoming) and then I had to sit out a year because of the vaccine and the COVID situation. I finally got my shot at [Long Island University] and from there I went to Toledo before here. If you talk to all these other kids, they’d say I definitely had like the craziest journey.”

Sewell said Maletic “bet on himself.”

Now the duo is preparing for what is next, even though that future is currently unclear.

“He should get some NBA workouts the way things are looking right now, and if not, he’ll head over to Europe and do well over there,” said Sewell.

Maletic is in the process of acquiring his Serbian passport to potentially go overseas, but he is still hoping to cash in with a transfer to a major program.

“I’m really hoping I can go to a power-five school,” said Maletic, who is looking to choose somewhere he would be in the top seven rotation.

“Fit for me is everything. I am a Euro-type player, and you don’t really see a lot of Euro wings in the power five conferences. I want to go somewhere where they know what they are getting and where I can excel,” he said.

While he waits to find out his eligibility, he is finishing this semester at school, working out and getting his body ready for workouts.

No matter what happens, he has come a long way.

“Going into my freshman year at Saunders, if you told me I’d eventually be leading the nation in three-point percentage, you are going to be one of the top Division 1 basketball players in the country, and to have some NBA workouts, I’d say ‘no way man,’” said Maletic.

He credits Sewell for helping him realize that was a possibility, “He’s the one person besides my family who ever believed in me. Credit and praise to him.”