Former Gonzaga star Filip Petrusev will play big role for Serbia in 2023 FIBA World Cup

Petrusev and Serbia take on China in the Philippines on Friday

Former Gonzaga men's basketball standout Filip Petrusev will be representing his home country of Serbia in the 2023 FIBA World Cup that begins Friday in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.

Petrusev, who signed his first NBA contract with the Philadelphia 76ers in July, made the Serbian national team's final 12-man roster that was announced Tuesday. Though Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic won't be playing, the Eagles will be led by a trio of NBA talent including Petrusev, Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic and Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic.

Serbia, ranked sixth in the FIBA World Cup rankings and placed in Group B, opens the 2023 World Cup against No. 27 China on Saturday before facing off against No. 20 Puerto Rico on Aug. 28. Group stage action concludes on Aug. 30 against No. 62 South Sudan.

Serbia went 4-1 in its five exhibition games and finished with three straight wins. Petrusev averaged 10.5 points in four appearances, including a 17-point effort in a win over China on Monday.

The 6-foot-11 forward, who is coming off his third NBA Summer League since being drafted 50th overall in 2021, will be making his fourth appearance on the Serbia senior team. His most recent international experience came in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup European qualifiers, where he averaged 7.8 points, 4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in four games. Serbia went 8-4 overall and finished second in Europe's Group I division.

Though Petrusev was not on the 2019 Serbia senior squad, he was a focal point on the U19 team that finished seventh with a roster that didn't feature much standout talent. Petrusev averaged 19.3 points and 10.1 rebounds while shooting an efficient 66.2% from the field across seven games. Since then, Petrusev has continued to dominate at the international level in his home country, where he won league MVP of the Adriatic Basketball Association in 2021.

After helping secure the national team's seventh-straight World Cup appearance, Petrusev returned to the States for the NBA Summer League in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Las Vegas. He averaged 10.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in five outings, which earned him a partially-guaranteed two-year contract with the 76ers.

Now back with his national team, Petrusev and Serbia should be among the favorites to advance to the second round of the FIBA World Cup. If the Eagles finish first or second in Group B play, they'll move into Group I which will feature the two top finishers from Group A (Angola, Dominican Republic, Philippines and Italy). From there, the top two from Group I will advance to the quarterfinals.

Depending on how the standings shape out, a potential USA-Serbia matchup in the quarterfinals could be in the cards. The Serbs defeated the Americans, 94-89, in the 2019 FIBA World Cup consolation round.

After failing to qualify for the 2021 Olympics, the Serbs have a chance at redemption under FIBA Hall of Fame head coach Svetislav Pesic, who has a 103-73 career record in his 20 years of coaching in the EuroLeague. It'll be his first time coaching a national team since 2014 when he was with Germany, which featured former Gonzaga guard Elias Harris on the roster. That squad failed to qualify for the FIBA World Cup that year, but in a new country with loads of talent on hand, Pesic and the Eagles have a real shot at not just qualifying for the 2024 Olympics, but to win the 2023 FIBA World Cup as well.