Luka Rupnik again in the Dragon’s Nest

The senior team of Cedevita Olimpija was strengthened by the Slovenian national team member and excellent creator of the game, Luka Rupnik, who already wore the Dragons jersey between 2012 and 2016.

The team of Cedevita Olimpija was strengthened by the Slovenian national team player Luka Rupnik as the Point Guard position. The latter already wore the Dragons jersey between 2012 and 2016, and started the 2020/21 season in Nymburk and later moved to Zaragoza, Spain. From Spain, Rupnik will move to Ljubljana, and join the trainings in Stožice.

Rupnik started his basketball career in his hometown of Idrija, and in 2009 he wore the jersey of the Ljubljana Slovan. After three years at Kodeljevo, his career took him to Stožice, and in 2016 he went to Forco Lleida. That same year, he then wore the Fuenlabrada jersey, where he remained until 2019, and spent the 2019/20 season in the jersey of the Giants from Antwerp. This year, he also won the Belgian Cup title with the Belgian team and at the same time became the most useful player in the Belgian Cup. He finished the cup’s final game with 21 points, eight assists, six rebounds and two steals.

For Zaragoza, he played in six games of the Spanish national championship in the 2020/21 season and averaged 4.5 points and 2.7 assists in 12.8 minutes of play, and in the Champions League he played in two games and in 18.0 minutes. scored 9.5 points and 2.5 assists.

At the same time, Luka is one of the permanent members of the Slovenian men’s national team, and he also played in the last two qualifying matches for EuroBasket 2022. He spent 22 minutes on the floor against both Ukraine and Austria. He scored 12 points for the Ukrainians and added seven assists, while against the Austrians he recorded seven points and six assists. Rupnik will once again join forces with his teammates from the national team, Jaka Blažič, Edo Murić and Alen Hodžić.

Luka Rupnik
Date and place of birth: May 20 1993, Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Playing Position: Point Guard
Height: 185 cm
Career: Slovan (2009-12), Union Olimpija (2012-16), Forca Lleida (2016), Fuenlabrada (2016-19), Antwerp Giants (2019-20), Nymburk (2020), Zaragoza (2020).

Sani Bečirović, sports director of Cedevita Olimpija:
“With the signing of the contract with Luka Rupnik, we continue with the idea we highlighted at the creation of Cedevita Olimpija, and this idea is that the core of the member team consists of players with a Slovenian passport. Luka is an excellent point guard, who knows the Ljubljana environment, and playing in the Dragons jersey is no stranger to him. However, the fact that he knows many players who are already part of our team from national team campaigns cannot be ignored. We are pleased that he is returning to Stožice after four years of playing abroad, and with his experience he will contribute a lot to the success of our team in the rest of the season.”

Jurica Golemac, head coach of Cedevita Olimpija:
“We immediately seized the opportunity to bring the Slovenian national team and another domestic player, who has been playing excellently in recent years, to our team. We all know that the main goal of Cedevita Olimpija is to put together a team consisting of as many home players as possible. We are very happy that Luka is coming back. We are sure that he will raise the level of our game, and that he will bring us together with the other guys to where we want to be.”

Luka Rupnik, player of Cedevita Olimpija:
“I am very happy to be returning home after almost five years of playing abroad. When I was offered the opportunity to leave Zaragoza, we immediately got in touch with Cedevita Olimpija, so we had a lot of conversations in the last few days. Sports director Sani Bečirović presented me with an ambitious project, in which I also believe, and after talking to head coach Jurica Golemac, I quickly decided. I can’t wait to join the guys on the floor.”