Florida Gators Add Big Man to the Mix, Gain Commitment from 6'11 Serbian Center

Todd Golden adding another to the Florida Gators’ men’s basketball roster, a 6'11 center out of Serbia.

Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden reels in another big man. / Doug Engle/Ocala Star Banner / USA TODAY

Todd Golden is adding another to the Florida Gators’ men’s basketball roster: 6-foot-11 center out of Serbia, Viktor Mikic, according to Jacob Rudner on X.

BREAKING: Florida has added 6-foot-11 Serbian center Viktor Mikic to its 2024-25 roster, sources tell @Swamp_247. Mikic averaged 14.3 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game while playing high school hoops in Tennessee last year.

More details here: https://t.co/UWBzO8Sx8L pic.twitter.com/Sy5TpO3gpo

— Jacob Rudner (@JacobRudner) June 28, 2024

Mikic is already enrolled at UF, and he is expected to make it to campus in time for the Summer B semester. 

Mikic averaged 14.3 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game at Chattanooga Hamilton Heights High School in Tennessee last season. 

Mikic had reportedly been offered scholarships by Rutgers, Elon, Hawaii, Marist, Valparaiso, Tennessee State and Bowling Green.

🏀🎉 Exciting News! 🎉🏀

Congrats to 6'11" Forward, Viktor Mikic, on receiving an offer from Coach Penny Collins and The Tennessee State University! 🐯🔵

Viktor is dominating the court averaging 14 points, 14 rebounds, and 58% from the field.#NewHeights #D2W pic.twitter.com/myDEewpb12

— Hamilton Heights Boys Basketball (@HHhawksbball) December 6, 2023

Mikic came over to the States after a successful 2022-23 season in the Serbian Junior League. He averaged 17.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, 0.9 blocks and 25.9 minutes per game across 19 appearances for Partizan BG. 

Todd Golden continues his run of adding international players to the roster. He has added at least one international player in his first three seasons as the Gators’ head coach. 

Golden has previously brought in Aleks Szymczyk from Germany, Alex Condon from Australia, and Kajus Kublickas from Lithuania. 

Golden has previously spoken of the benefits of tapping into the international player pool. 

“As coaches, we see guys when we go recruit internationally that are really ready to go,” Golden said at the SEC Media day last season. “They’ve kind of come up through clubs or different organizations where – transparently – they get to train more than our young men and women do. And these international prospects that are coming over generally don’t have a lot of baggage with them. They’re coming over to play basketball, go to class, and do the best they can to prepare themselves to become pros. So you have guys who are really focused and have an understanding of why they’re coming over.”

The Gators enter the 2024-25 season with their highest expectations in some time. They reached the SEC Tournament championship game and returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2020-21. They lost in the first round to Colorado 102-100. 

Many players from last year’s team are coming back in 2024-25 including guards Walter Clayton, Denzel Aberdeen and Kajus Kublickas, Will Richard; forwards Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh;  and center Micah Handlogten. 

They have also brought in three transfers in former Florida Atlantic guard Alijah Martin, former Washington State center Reuben Chinyelu and former Chattanooga forward Sam Alexis.