Bayern Munich’s basketball project is taking shape as the latest piece of the management team was added with the hiring of former German international Marko Pesic as new sports director.
The 34-year-old Pesic is the son of Svetislav Pesic, who guided Germany to the 1993 EuroBasket title and Barcelona to the treble including Euroleague crown in 2003. The younger Pesic, who won six German league championships and five German Cups with Alba Berlin as a player, was the first choice for the position by Bayern coach Dirk Bauermann and he signed a three-year contract with Munich – the same as Bauermann.
“I would like to thanks the bosses of the club very much for their show of faith and I am looking forward to the challenge with Bayern Munich,” said Pesic, who won silver at the 2005 EuroBasket under Bauermann.
Pesic ended his active career in 2006 and studied sports marketing and communication in Venice, after which he became a player’s agent. And with his marketing and consulting company Lumani 10.7, Pesic used his ties with the German national team to sign young talented Germans as clients.
And Pesic has become truly one of the most important men in German basketball since starting his company in late 2007. Among his clients were current veteran German internationals Steffen Hamann, Jan Jagla, Demond Greene, Heiko Schaffartzik, Sven Schultze and Yassin Idbihi as well as emerging German talents such as Robin Benzing, Per Günther, Maik Zirbes, Bastian Doreth, Johannes Lischka, Philipp Zwiener and Daniel Hain. Another client is Bayern’s Aleksandar Nadjfeji.
But to avoid a conflict of interest as the man at Bayern who would bring in players for Bauermann, Pesic had to give up his running the Lumani business.
“It was not an easy decision,” said Pesic, who played 97 games for Germany and also won bronze at the 2002 World Championship, in an interview with www.crossover-online.de.
“When you build up your own company from nothing, lead it to success and then have to give it up, it’s a feeling like giving up your child for adoption. It’s a very odd feeling.”
Pesic, however, said that it was his long-time goal of working directly with a club and having responsibility there – especially in a situation like Bayern Munich.
“When you get a chance and a challenge like at a club like Bayern Munich, then you have to decide rationally. I did that because this experience will be enormously important for my personal future and personal development.”
Pesic turned over control of his business to former German BBL player Jan Rohdewald as new CEO.
BBL teams will be required to have five Germans on the game roster for next season and six for the 2012-13 season. Bayern are already in a good situation in that regard with Hamann, Demond Greene and Bogdan Radosavljevic under long-term contracts and Bastian Doreth signed for next season.
Pesic also addressed rumors of Benzing going to Bayern.
“There were no negotiations. Basically the philosophy is that we will sign players that bring the Bayern Munich project forward. Whether that’s German players, American players or European players is secondary. We will be looking for players who will help the identity, success and clear culture of the club,” said Pesic.