The Bruins will battle it out with Oregon, Stanford, Texas, Duke and Virginia to see who nabs the son of Peja Stojakovic.
The Bruins are one step closer to hauling in one of their top targets.
Class of 2023 small forward Andrej Stojakovic announced his top six finalists Friday on Twitter, and UCLA men’s basketball made the cut. The Bruins are going up against Oregon, Stanford, Texas, Duke and Virginia in the final push for Stojakovic’s commitment.
Stojakovic also racked up offers from UConn, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Cal Poly, Florida, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Michigan, Minnesota, San Francisco, St. Mary’s, UC Santa Barbara, USC and Washington State, but those schools appear to be out of the running at the moment.
UCLA and Stanford were the presumed leaders in Stojakovic’s recruitment for the past several months, but Duke solidified its late push by sending him an offer on Monday.
The Jesuit High School (CA) product took an official visit to Westwood on June 14, less than a week after Cronin hired Serbian-born Ivo Simovic to become a new assistant coach on UCLA’s staff. Stojakovic, who is Serbian and Greek, is the son of former NBA champion Peja Stojakovic – another influential Serbian basketball figure, like Simovic.
Setting himself apart from his father in the high school ranks, the younger Stojakovic has become a prolific standout for Jesuit. The Carmichael, California, native averaged 25.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game his junior season and is shooting 49% from the field, 40% from beyond the arc and 80% from the free throw line for his career.
Stojakovic plays his AAU ball for the Compton Magic, a program that has produced a handful of Bruins over the past few years. Johnny Juzang, Jaylen Hands, Jaylen Clark, Jules Bernard, Dylan Andrews, Jalen Hill, Ike Anigbogu and TJ Leaf all have donned the blue and gold after playing for the Magic.
Stojakovic is a consensus four-star prospect, according to 247Sports, Rivals, ESPN and On3. The 247Sports Composite has Stojakovic ranked as the No. 4 small forward in the country, the No. 6 recruit in California and the No. 22 overall prospect in his class.
The 2023 recruiting class is bound to be an integral one for the Bruins, who could have as many as eight scholarship spots open next offseason. Cronin has yet to lock down a commitment, though, placing additional importance on the coming weeks and months out on the recruiting trail.
Five-star point guard Isaiah Collier and four-star small forward Jamie Kaiser are also reportedly nearing decisions of their own, with both heavily considering the Bruins. Those two, plus Stojakovic, will be important prospects to keep an eye on as the summer progresses.
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