Antioch's Potkonjak wants back on the basketball map

In Serbia, where she hung out for two months this summer, you can bet they pronounced her last name correctly, just as she did so marvelously when requested.

"POTE-kin-yak," Andi Potkonjak says in a Serbian accent that she transitions into as effortlessly as she slides her tiny frame between defenders in the lane. She does, after all, have Serbian blood, although she was born here, as were her parents.

Along with some other teenagers from the area, Potkonjak traveled to Europe this summer. She stayed with family and experienced life an ocean away.

When she returned home, some things hadn't changed.

For one, the Antioch senior was still 5 feet 5.

"Yeah, I'm not growing," Potkonjak said with a shrug and a grin. "I think I'm done."

Something else that hadn't changed: She was still without a college interested in her for basketball, a sport which she plays better than most girls in Lake County and certainly her size.

Serbia was great. But while taking in sights, she was out of site here. Her absence didn't help get her name out to college coaches.

"That's the reason I'm kind of off the radar for basketball," Potkonjak said. "The two main July and August (college) showcases, I was in Europe."

Since her freshman year, Potkonjak has been showcasing her basketball talents on varsity basketball courts.

Well, there was sophomore year, when she missed all but the opening quarter of Antioch's season opener. She had been the varsity's most dynamic player as a freshman.

Potkonjak ripped up her right knee on a drive to the basket and had reconstructive surgery a couple of weeks later.

She's proud that she made the layup before falling.

"My team did really well that year. They beat Warren and had some really good wins," Potkonjak said. "But it stunk sitting on the bench watching them. I got through it."

Healthy last season, Potkonjak played without a brace and at a high level. She plays at high speed only. She was super, scoring 17 points per game and earning all-conference and all-area honors.

She entered this season with 793 career points.

She's far from satisfied.

Antioch coach Tim Borries wants to see more leadership from his fiery guard this season and was encouraged with what he saw from Potkonjak during the Sequoits' season opener against visiting Belvidere North on Tuesday night.

Never mind Potkonjak's 17 points and 9 steals. What the coach liked was when Potkonjak made eye contact with him after she turned the ball over or missed an open teammate.

"She knows," Borries said. "She's becoming a great point guard, even better than the one she was last year. She's looking more for the assists.

"She can dominate a game by herself," Borries added. "I think she could have shot the ball probably every time, but she's looking to get other people involved, and she does a great job of that. She sees the floor so well. "

Borries' daughter, sophomore guard Megan Borries, has gotten to know Potkonjak well in the last year. Borries was called up to varsity during the middle of last season and was a cross-country teammate of Potkonjak in the fall.

"She's a lot more committed on defense this year," Megan Borries said. "She's a captain this year, which is great, and she's a wonderful leader."

Defensively, Potkonjak is a risk-taker. She might get burned going for a steal, but oftentimes she guesses right, makes a swipe and flies in for a layup.

"I take risks. I know I do," she says with a sheepish grin. "But I always feel like it's there. ... I'm working on that."

How does she get back on the radar?

"I got to work my butt off," Potkonjak said.

So that's what she's doing.

She went out for cross country in the fall in an attempt to get in shape for basketball. Never mind that she didn't enjoy the sport or that she wasn't good at it. She had fun with her friend Nicole Kelly, who also plays basketball for the Sequoits.

Hey, she gave it a run, so to speak.

"I couldn't do it," said Potkonjak, shaking her head.

The point is, she sees a finish line. She's stepped up her game in the classroom, too.

She's pulling a 4.0 (4.0 scale) this semester, she says, and plans on retaking the ACT after scoring a 23 on her first try.

"I'm aiming for a 25," she says.

Truth is, she might not even know her own potential. Likable and refreshingly honest about her weaknesses, she admits she's been lazy in the past.

The good news is, she's not delusional. She's angry enough with herself that she wants to change, because she absolutely wants to play college basketball.

"I take time off all the time (from basketball)," she says. "So I'm actually lucky where I am today.

"I'm lucky I have natural skill," she adds with a laugh.

If she keeps improving, people will be forced to learn how to pronounce her last name.

Just not as well as she does.