From The Heart: Bonnies Freshmen Make International Impact

The 'From The Heart' feature series takes an in-depth look at St. Bonaventure student-athletes and coaches. Named for the beloved Merton's Heart that overlooks campus, this series will tell the stories of Bonnies athletic programs on and off the field. Click here for previous installments in the series. 

Despite leaving preseason workouts just a few weeks in, St. Bonaventure women's basketball team members Ivona Djikanovic and Iva Corluka got plenty of basketball action in this summer.

“Those events are truly some high-level basketball,” said Kelcie Rombach, Bonnies assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. “While they weren't physically on campus, what they brought back with them in experience and physicality, has really benefited them.”

Djikanovic played seven games for the U-20 Serbian National Team, averaging 22.4 minutes and chipping in 8.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per game all on the way to winning the FIBA U-20 Women’s EuroBasket Division B silver medal.

“This year, we won every game except one in the finals. We finished in second place, but we got back to the A Division,” Djikanovic said.

In six games for the Croatian U-18 National team, Corluka averaged 4.5 rebounds with 1.5 assists over 12.1 minutes per game.

Representing a nation is something both athletes take pride in.

“People don't really take it as serious, but you're playing for the flag,” Djikanovic said. “You're playing for your people and the whole country.”

For Corluka, despite growing up in New York, since Corluka's grandparents are from Croatia, she has dual citizenship. This makes representing the Croatian flag mean more to the Bonnies freshman.

“I grew up watching the Croatian soccer team in the World Cup, and I always thought it would be a really cool experience to be able to do that,” she said.

There are many differences in the international game compared to the game in the states. Some of these different experiences figure to help the new Bonnies when they don the Bonaventure colors this season.

“I think the difference is internationally its more physical and strategic,” Djikanovic stated.

“The way Europeans play basketball, there's a lot of ball movement and space,” Rombach said. “They bring some of that high basketball IQ that fits well into how we play.”

Corluka won NYSSWA Class A Player of the Year as a high school senior as well as helping Ardsley High School win the State Championship. She also represented the U-17 Croatian team.

“We play a lot more games than the international kids do,” Corluka said. “In AAU, you play like six games a weekend while internationally they're practicing six times a week for one game.”

For Corluka and Djikanovic their roads to international competition were different.

“There was this coach from Serbia that called me, and I played last year for U-20. I played up,” Djikanovic said. “This year we had a whole new coach and staff, and they watched the games from last year and liked what they saw and asked me to come back and play for them.”

Corluka’s route looked different.

“I just happened to follow the coach of the team on Instagram, and I have a friend who's also from New York. She played there, and the coach asked her, ‘you know this girl?’” said Corluka. “‘Tell her dad to call me.’”

In an effort to help the freshmen transition, the coaching staff had them come in early.

“I came here a month before everybody, and I had to get to know my coaches and work out with them individually and just get to see how the system works,” Djikanovic stated.

Corluka and Djikanovic take the floor for the first time with the Bonnies when they host Daemen Wednesday, Oct. 29 in the Brown and White’s exhibition contest.