Serbian lineage serves Grcic at Lake Zurich

Around his friends and teammates, Lake Zurich senior forward Mirko Grcic talks and sounds like your normal, everyday American teenager.

Unless he's at home.

“My friends come over and they'll hear me say something to my Mom or Dad in passing and they're like, ‘What did you say?'” Grcic said. “They can't understand a word I'm saying.”

That's because Grcic speaks fluent Serbian at home. And nothing but Serbian. It's one of many things Grcic and his parents, and his older brother Marko (an all-conference basketball player at Lake Zurich two years ago) do to maintain a strong connection to their heritage.

The family vacations regularly in Serbia, where mom Beba and dad Vesko grew up and lived until they were in their 20s. The Grcics also attend a Serbian church in the north suburbs and celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7 each year, as is the tradition in Serbia.

One of the main reasons Grcic became interested in basketball in the first place is because as a kid he religiously followed the NBA careers of two of Serbia's most cherished professional athletes: Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic.

“My dad played professional soccer when he lived in Serbia and he really wanted me to be a soccer player,” Grcic said. “But I wasn't really into it because I was into basketball. I started watching basketball when I was pretty young because I had heard about Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic and how they were really good and they were Serbian.

“I wanted to be just like them. I got their jerseys and everything. They were my idols. It made me think that it would be neat to be on the Serbian national team someday, just like they were.”

So Grcic poured himself into basketball, and so far, it's paid off.

Athletic and 6-foot-6, Grcic is versatile, capable of tormenting defenses in the paint with strong post moves or out on the perimeter with range from 3-point land. He has started every game for the Bears the last two years and is their leading scorer and rebounder this season at about 18 points and 10 rebounds per game.

At 11-8, Lake Zurich, which won just 3 games two years ago and 7 games last year, is off to its best start in years.

Last weekend, Grcic helped the Bears enjoy one of their finest moments in recent memory when he drained 2 free throws with just five seconds remaining in a 57-55 win over perennial power Stevenson. He scored 16 points on the night, a game-high.

“That's the kind of player Mirko is for us. He can hit the big shots or make the big play,” Lake Zurich coach Billy Pitcher said. “He is just a basketball 24/7 guy, a relentless worker on his game and in the weight room and that's why he's so good.

“We played in two tournaments over Christmas so I gave the kids off (for a few days around New Year's), and the very next day he was texting me to see if the gym was open so that he could shoot. I went out of town, so the gym was locked, but Mirko went to the Y instead. He puts in a lot of time.”

Like most high school basketball players, Grcic plays year-round. His favorite travel team that he's played on over his career is the Illinois White Eagles, an all-Serbian squad.

“We've got some kids from Hersey on the team, and kids from Buffalo Grove, Rolling Meadows and Glenbard South,” Grcic said. “It's really fun. We all talk to each other in Serbian, even while we're playing, and the other teams are all confused and everything. It's pretty funny.”

Regardless of the language barrier, there's no misunderstanding Grcic's abilities. He played so well during the travel season last summer that he's got all kinds of small colleges pursuing him now.

“I definitely want to play in college, but at this point, I'm keeping my options open,” Grcic said. “Right now, I'm just concentrating on having a great senior year. I am determined for us to have a winning record this year, to be a force in the (North Suburban) conference. I want to go out with a bang.”

Grcic also wants to go to Serbia again. He hasn't visited all of his friends and relatives there since eighth grade.

“I love it there,” Grcic said. “My grandfather and great-grandfather fought in the war (during the fall of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s), so I've heard all the stories about how horrible it was back then. But it's so nice now. There are beautiful mountains and lakes and there's the ocean. They've built all these new churches and the cities are rebuilt and there are all these neat shops and cafes. There are festivals and people love to sing.”

They also love to watch basketball in Serbia, too.

“It's unreal how much they like basketball,” Grcic said. “They fill the gym, they sing, they wave their flags.”

Maybe someday they'll be waving those flags for Grcic.

pbabcock@dailyherald.com