Roko Dominović

Roko Dominović talks about his journey from playing professional basketball in Croatia to playing basketball in the United States for one of the country's most dominant Division II programs.

Where are you from and how did you get started playing basketball?

I am from Split and I started basketball when I was seven years old. I was always interested in sports and started playing basketball with my friends when I was younger. I started playing for KK Split when I was a teenager until I was eighteen years old and then played two years professionally for KK Alkar before coming to the U.S. It has now been over 16 years that I am playing and I love it just as much now as the first day I began playing.

How did you go from being a professional basketball player to a collegiate athlete?

It is hard to go to college and play a sport in Croatia so after high school I decided to go pro to give myself that experience and see how far I could get. After my first year of professional basketball I wanted more of a challenge and decided to try and get to the U.S. I realized that only playing and focusing on basketball was not enough for me and felt I could do much more. Knowing that I cannot be a basketball player my whole life I want more options once I finish my playing career and a college degree can give me that. Realizing that the U.S. system gives you a chance to do both helped me come to that decision. Once I decided, I needed to take the necessary exams to attend college in the U.S. and I found an agent to help me look for schools and get in contact with coaches. I felt that Northern State University was best for me because through research and talking to the coaches I realized how big basketball is here in Aberdeen. I also really wanted to study psychology and they have a good psychology program here, which definitely affected my decision.

During my first year as a student at the school I couldn’t play basketball because of NCAA rules since I played professionally back home for two years, so I only had three years to play.

How was the transition going from a big city in Croatia to a small town and campus in the U.S.?

I went from a big city with almost 200,000 people to a city with 28,000 in the middle of nowhere which was a bit of a shock. But I quickly learned that Aberdeen is a great community. People are always ready to help, and I didn’t find it too hard to be away from my friends and family at home because of the community of friends and connections I have built here. For example I didn’t go home at one time for two straight years because of COVID-19 and I didn’t see it as that big of a problem because I had people here who were ready to help me and support me. Culture wise it was a big shock to use the English language 24/7. We obviously take an English class while in school in Croatia, but it is much different when you actually have to speak it everyday to communicate with everyone. At first I would have to translate everything in my head, but after a few months it definitely got better. I am miles away from where I was as a freshman speaking English. Food was a big shock as well, eating in a cafeteria after living off of your mom’s food for nineteen years is not the same. Living by myself and being away from my family for the first time in my life was a big shock at first. I would say that I needed a good three to four months to adapt to everything but after that I was fine, it was only getting better and better.

My first time coming to the U.S. was my freshman year of college so I didn’t know what to expect. Everyone knows the stereotypes of the U.S. being so big, so rich, and flying into Minneapolis it was exactly that. But then I drove to Aberdeen and I was like where have I come? You do the research before and see the pictures of the campus, but once you come here you realize, “Oh I am in the middle of nowhere.” I wasn’t too worried about the small town feel because for me people are what make a place feel like home. I have a friend from home who ended up going to a small school in Iowa so I knew someone who had experienced the same big change which helped me prepare. Coming here you don’t expect to build connections right away or find someone from Croatia, especially in South Dakota, but once I went to a restaurant and a guy came up to me who was Serbian and we started speaking our language right away. It surprises you how small the world is and you can always find someone to talk to wherever you go. When you come here you forget about all those differences between Croatia, Serbia, Albania, everywhere, you just look at them as Europeans.

Did your school provide you with sufficient resources to get accustomed to your new environment?

Since day one my school provided me with all the information and support I needed to succeed. We have a tutoring center available, class advisors, coaches, an international office, all there to help, especially the first year when I was still adapting. I can speak from personal experience and experiences my friends have told me about that schools who have a higher population of international students do a better job at helping students adapt. My school did exactly that. I was the only international basketball player which made me feel like I was distanced sometimes, especially my first year coming from a different culture, but there were a lot of international athletes on other teams with whom I ended up making lasting friendships.

Would you urge others to look into the option of playing their sport at universities in the U.S.?

There are so many talented players in Croatia, Europe, and all over the world that I think coaches are now more open to the idea of recruiting internationally. I look back and I had so many talented friends and teammates that gave up because they had to make a decision between playing and studying, a difficult spot to be in. Many came to the decision to study first and play in a second or third league on the side for fun and as you get busier and busier you give up on sports. That is why I wanted to come here and play in the U.S.

You mentioned the relationships you were able to build in Aberdeen, can you speak a little more about that?

I believe that I have built so many connections here both playing and studying. Having the small community here and basketball being the number one sport we had so many fans and it felt like everyone knew us. I would always be open to talk to anyone who came up to me after the games or in the store, because being open to having those conversations helped me build even more connections. I look at Northern State University as my second home and I know I will always have people here who helped me and will continue to help me.

How did your family support you during this time?

Northern State University is a Division II school therefore we didn’t have to stay over the summer so my first two summers I had about two months to go back home. Throughout the year I didn’t have the chance to go back home for Christmas or anything like that so it was nice that I had that time over the summer. Sadly, my parents never got the chance to come see me play in person. Between work and having to get all the visas and documents it is not easy to come here. They did however watch every game live online or the highlights. With the seven hour time difference it wasn’t the easiest, they would take a nap and then watch the game at two or three in the morning then go to work.

Northern State University has had a lot of success in men’s basketball, can you speak a little bit about what you experienced?

The last four years we made school history as a basketball team which has been pretty cool. All four years we won the regular season and the conference tournament. In the DII NCAA tournament my first year we lost in the finals, second year we lost in the semifinals of the regional tournament, third year was cancelled because of COVID-19, and this year we lost in the finals of the regional tournament. I didn’t understand how big the NCAA tournament was at first. Back in Croatia the NCAA tournament is not as big as it is here, but being at a school where basketball is the biggest sport it didn’t take long to figure that out.

We also set a record for most fans at a DII school and we’ve broken the record every year with a total of around 3,000 each game and almost 40,000 throughout the season. I know there are a lot of DI schools who don’t have nearly as many fans so it was really cool to play in that atmosphere.

What do you hope to do with your degree from Northern State University in the future?

I graduated this year in 2021 with a degree in psychology and minors in sports marketing and coaching. I am now trying to do a masters in sports psychology; a mix of two things I love. I can see myself coaching and being a sports psychologist at the same time, but right now I am looking for another school to complete a masters program because the program I want to do is not offered at Northern State University. I am looking in the UK because I can play and study there and the program is one year as opposed to two years in the U.S.

I don’t see myself staying in the US and living here in the future, but the U.S. has given me such big opportunities outside of just playing. Last summer I couldn’t go home so I volunteered as a coach for a kids basketball team and this summer I have an opportunity to work and be a full time coach with the team, not just a volunteer. I have learned that in the U.S. you can always find a way to do whatever it is you want to do.

Do you have any advice for young players in Croatia looking to come to the U.S. to play collegiate sports?

From what I have seen over the past few years, more and more athletes, both men and women, are showing interest in coming to the U.S. I think this is because of the option to both play and study, the same reason I came. If you were successful in high school in Croatia, you shouldn’t be worried about studying in the U.S. The education program is very different and you have enough time to study, play, have some free time, and enjoy yourself. I don’t think you should hesitate in making that step.

What is your favorite sport to watch and who is your favorite athlete?

I am a student of the game so I love to watch players that play the same position as me, for example Goran Dragić. But of course like everyone else I watch the greats as well. I love to watch basketball, specifically the NBA and Euroleague, soccer, and obviously all of the Croatian sports from handball to tennis.

​​Thank you Roko, for sharing your experience playing in South Dakota. We wish you all the best and look forward to following your career outside of sports.