Editor’s note: Senior forward Ivan Radenovic averaged 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in two wins over then-No. 13 Oregon and Oregon State and made a game-winning shot with six seconds left Saturday to beat the Ducks. The Wildcat caught up with the Serbia native to discuss his heroics, his cooking skills and tight pants.
Wildcat: What goes through your mind after you make a game-winning shot?
Radenovic: I was talking to (head coach Lute Olson) this morning, and he was kind of joking, “”Thank God we won a game,”” and I said “”Yeah, it would have been eight hours of misery”” the way we came back home, because we came back at 3 in the morning. But nothing special – we were down by one, I scored, and then I tried to get a steal or something so they don’t get a shot to actually beat us.
W: What’s the best chant you’ve heard on the road?
R: “”U.S.A.!””
W: Don’t you hear that all the time?
R: (At Oregon) I heard it 20 or 30 times during the game, so it’s kind of funny.
W: Finish this sentence: If I wasn’t playing basketball, I’d be…
R: A professional hunter.
W: What do you say to people who mispronounce your name?
R: I can’t really say anything. I used to talk to them about that my freshman year, my sophomore year, but I’ve kind of given up.
W: I hear you can cook. What do you make?
R: I learned how to cook Serbian dishes, so I make a lot of Serbian food, which is not any different than American food, it’s just the way my family makes it, my mom makes it. It’s kind of different.
W: What’s your favorite dish to make?
R: Stuffed peppers.
W: Do any of the guys eat them?
R: I don’t think so, but I’ll definitely make some for them.
W: If there’s one part of Serbian culture you’d like to bring to the U.S., what would it be?
R: I don’t know, I can’t answer that question.
W: Maybe the pants, the tighter jeans?
R: I don’t see that as a part of the culture, but yeah, tighter pants. And actually wear them a little higher and not under your butt.
– Interview by Roman Veytsman