Jovana Popovic Commits to UConn

[uconnfan68]

We don't have "end-of-bench" players anymore. They can all contribute.

 

[Stronga12]

Here is a game played just six months ago during the Women's Eurobasket competition. We can see her with the senior national team. She wears the #28 in blue. In this game, she had a playing time of: 29:28, 9 pts. (4/10) 3 reb, 5 ast and 2 stl. The team's starting PG, Yvonne Anderson, found herself in foul trouble and she had the opportunity to prove herself further. With such high-level competition, we can get a good idea of where she stands right now. I've also added the box score. You can click on each player's name to see their complete stats. I've included a video of her entering the game.

Lithuania vs Serbia - Group Phase - FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025 | FIBA Basketball

Lithuania vs Serbia - Browse boxscore, game information & live stats, team rosters, photos and video highlights

www.fiba.basketball

This is at the Senior Eurobasket with top level professionals including many WNBA players, draft picks etc. Considering she was only 17 in this game it was a strong performance from her.

She played at the Nike Hoop Summit against Team USA earlier this year featuring the likes of Davidson, Chavez, Betts etc. where she had a strong game with a statline of 11 points in 18 minutes on 4-6 FG (1-1 3P). I think this game is better suited to get a glimpse where she stands relative to US HS players.

 

[Gael]

Does she pronounce her name with the J sounding like a Y?

Yes, according to this article:

UConn signs 2026 Serbian guard Jovana Popovic

The Huskies made a surprise addition to next season's freshman class.

www.uconnwbbweekly.com

"UConn women’s basketball made a surprise addition to its 2026 recruiting class on Thursday, announcing the signing of Jovana Popovic (pronounced yo-vah-na PAH-poh-vich), a 5-8 guard out of Vrbas, Serbia."

 

[Zarathustra]

Here is a game played just six months ago during the Women's Eurobasket competition. We can see her with the senior national team. She wears the #28 in blue. In this game, she had a playing time of: 29:28, 9 pts. (4/10) 3 reb, 5 ast and 2 stl. The team's starting PG, Yvonne Anderson, found herself in foul trouble and she had the opportunity to prove herself further. With such high-level competition, we can get a good idea of where she stands right now. I've also added the box score. You can click on each player's name to see their complete stats. I've included a video of her entering the game.

Lithuania vs Serbia - Group Phase - FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025 | FIBA Basketball

Lithuania vs Serbia - Browse boxscore, game information & live stats, team rosters, photos and video highlights

www.fiba.basketball

Interesting! Jovana Popovic # 28 defending Juste Joycte #4 (for Lithuania) and
Jovana playing with Serbian teammate #32 Dugalic (now with UCLA). The
17yo Popovic playing with the senior Serbian team. NICE.

 

[Zarathustra]

Get to know Serbian teenager Jovana Popovic, a budding women’s basketball star

Get to know the 17-year-old guard, who just led her team to its first championship in Serbia.

www.swishappeal.com

This link includes a nice interview with Jovana. Check out the Question
and Answer session. Jovana displays a lot of poise answering... She
even sounded like a HUSKIE back then! NICE!

 

[From Canada]

Here are Jovana Popovic's official measurements, taken in 2024 during the NBA Without Borders Europe camp in Malaga, Spain. You have everything, even the size of her hands. She is listed as #22, sixth on the list. It definitely seems that Geno likes to turn to the NBA Without Borders camps. If I'm not mistaken, she is the fourth player to be recruited, after Aaliyah Edwards and Nika Muhl, followed by Blanca Quinonez. Now it's Jovana Popovic's turn.

https://cdn.flowpage.com/images/68264561-279a-4652-8f06-e82bd8759160-pdf?m=1717170243

 

[Zarathustra]

This might be a mismatch of the teams: Jovana's team being the superior Mega
Superbet. But it is a wonderful display of Jovana's multiple skills
set... particularly her fearless driving and .... watch for that SPIN MOVE!

 

[Gael]

Here are Jovana Popovic's official measurements, taken in 2024 during the NBA Without Borders Europe camp in Malaga, Spain. You have everything, even the size of her hands.

Of the 30 players listed, 5'9.25" Jo has the second best sprint time (3.46 seconds) and the 5th best (tied) maximum vertical leap (25.0").

 

[Zarathustra]

I just used Google to covert Jovana's 1.75-meter height (FIBA roster reference).
That 1.75 meter = 175 cm which converts to 5 feet 8.8976378 inches. I think in the future that I will consider Jovana as being 5'9". Not exactly 5' 9" but I
do not have the exact conversion ratio for Hartley units.

 

[ubasketball]

If you want to laugh, just put her name and Google and see what comes up first. It says she is 35 years old! That was pretty shocking until I checked further and discovered that she is actually 18.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

And she has a name that is relatively easy to pronounce. Is she already carrying a nickname?

 

[AmeriConn]

Why does she have to have a nickname? What is wrong with Jovana?

It’s just a silly post donalddoowop. Jovana it is!

 

[Boreifs]

Here are Jovana Popovic's official measurements, taken in 2024 during the NBA Without Borders Europe camp in Malaga, Spain. You have everything, even the size of her hands. She is listed as #22, sixth on the list. It definitely seems that Geno likes to turn to the NBA Without Borders camps. If I'm not mistaken, she is the fourth player to be recruited, after Aaliyah Edwards and Nika Muhl, followed by Blanca Quinonez. Now it's Jovana Popovic's turn.

https://cdn.flowpage.com/images/68264561-279a-4652-8f06-e82bd8759160-pdf?m=1717170243

Okeke is also on this roster. Could she be the fifth?

 

[From Canada]

Okeke is also on this roster. Could she be the fifth?

Yes, that's her. We can find her at the bottom with #45. Thank you for pointing that out to me; I hadn't seen it. As you can see in the attachment, below club competition, there is Euro Cup Women, which is with a senior team, and BWB (Basketball Without Borders) Europe 2024, which is for the same camp as Jovana. It should be noted that BWB camp games are only 16 minutes long, which is equivalent to half a high school game in most US states. I think the measurements are taken with basketball shoes, and that for an inside player in this type of camp, you often have to settle for offensive rebounds to score points.

Sara Okeke (Spain) - Basketball Stats, Height, Age | FIBA Basketball

Explore the career and performances of Sara Okeke. Access all stats, latest news, photos, videos and achievements.

www.fiba.basketball

 

[bayern7]

I've noticed, in this and other highlight films, that
Jovana (a right-handed shooter) has the capacity to
switch to her left for a bucket (watch for a drive to
the basket in this highlight reel). And... the foot
speed! I also had the idea that Jovana could
be a shooting guard (in Azzi's role), though she
will probably be one of the handful of combo
guards on the team. Does anyone have thoughts about
her role: PG, Combo Guard, Shooting guard?

Given her height I’d say she’ll be more in the PG role, she’s shorter than Ash and Ash is already quite undersized against top teams at the W position.

 

[huskyd]

I like it! We have one scholarship left. If there is a big....from anywhere... who Geno thinks is
good enough...I say go for her!

Haven't checked any video on Jovana yet but the stories sound borderline great. Point guard who can score....her field
goal percentages from two/trey and foul line are excellent...don't know how long a period that was referring to.

Two years with Sara... three with Olivia and Blanca!

My actuary is busy calculating how many more UConn recruits I'm likely to see play out their 4 years. I'm off the Hamburger Diet and mostly just grazing in the yard as octogenarians do. Once Geno retires, it's back to meat. 85 and barely alive: go Popovic!

 

[JellyBean]

Welcome to UConn, Jovana!! Wishing you all the best.

 

[Blakeon18]

Counting error

Jovana and Olivia...4 years together

 

[darrell]

Here are Jovana Popovic's official measurements, taken in 2024 during the NBA Without Borders Europe camp in Malaga, Spain. You have everything, even the size of her hands. She is listed as #22, sixth on the list. It definitely seems that Geno likes to turn to the NBA Without Borders camps. If I'm not mistaken, she is the fourth player to be recruited, after Aaliyah Edwards and Nika Muhl, followed by Blanca Quinonez. Now it's Jovana Popovic's turn.

https://cdn.flowpage.com/images/68264561-279a-4652-8f06-e82bd8759160-pdf?m=1717170243

Forgot one, haha.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Laflin:

The 5-8 Popovic will remind Husky fans a little of Nika Muhl, although Popovic's game is a bit more focused on the offensive end compared to Muhl's defensive prowess. Popovic is a shifty floor general type, a poised ball handler and solid decision-maker. She is a crafty finisher around the rim and a knockdown catch-and-shooter from 3-point range.

2026 girls' recruiting class rankings: Texas up to No. 2 after early signing window

With a slew of pickups, Texas skyrockets up right behind USC as 15 teams join the expanded top 25 rankings.

www.espn.com

 

[ConnMotors]

Well, well well What a big surprise We got a good one. The skills are there, and the video shows us a lot from a 17-yr old playing up against much older women. For Geno to get her tells me something about his recruiting, which Im not sure I know. He's going in a new direction. More non-Americans. To take her on a team that has as much talent as UConn has on their roster tells me shes that good. Shes not gonna be at the end of the bench. She is very athletic and create her own shot and isnt afraid to shoot. To be playing up on her team and play with that kind of leadership and confidence is just wow. She takes charge like many of the great players we've seen at UConn. Shes not afraid not intimidated and does not defer to her older teammates. I think we got a special player to join our already great team

Tony he is going in a different direction because he knows that there are not many seasons left. With 12 already I believe that 20 is nice number as a goal. We have this year plus two more with Sarah. This year plus three more with Blanca and the four years of Olivia. Granted I’m day dreaming here. But anything is possible if you have all of the pieces.

 

[Cuango]

Isn't Kelis considered a " little"? If not she should be.

All the time she was being recruited I thought of Kelis as a “little” but now I find that every time I see her on the court I’m surprised at how big she is. Relatively speaking of course.

 

[ABCDFE]

We don't have "end-of-bench" players anymore. They can all contribute.

Correct. I think those days are gone. Geno has done an amazing job recruiting high level talented kids with good basketball IQ to come and be ready to compete. No guarantees on playing time or starting, but rest assured he mentions the opportunity to play in the final four every year. With the injury situation that occurred the last 4-5 years and then before that 2-3 years of what I would call sub UCONN standard recruiting, Geno is not having any potential hiccups, especially now that he is toward the end of his coaching career.

 

[EricLA]

So, not sure if I saw this posted. Back in April in Nike Team USA vs. World game, both Olivia and Jovana played for team world. Olivia was a starter, but didn't score well, but Jovana was one of only 3 players for team world in double figures scoring. Team USA won 90-78 and both kids played against older USA players (Davidson, Francis, Skinner, Betts, Chavez, Crump, Knox, etc.). Both Makeer and Somfi on team World are also 1 year older, and didn't have the production Jovanna did.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Serbian and Croatian are actually not two separate languages, but two dialects of the same language (language books usually lump them together as Serbo-Croatian). Not identical, but definitely mutually intelligible. The primary difference is that Serbian is written in Cyrillic like Russian, while Croatian is written in the Latin alphabet.

Good to know. When you say Latin, do you mean like our alphabet, or do you mean the historical Latin alphabet in which, for example, the 'v' is used instead of a 'u'?