BELGRADE (Serbia) - Serbia have begun writing a new chapter in their basketball history by appointing Dusan Alimpijevic as their new coach.
Alimpijevic, 39, succeeds Svetislav Pesic, the legendary coach who steered Serbia to a runners-up finish at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 and to the bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics.
Pesic, 76, saw his reign as Serbia coach end with back-to-back defeats at EuroBasket 2025, losses to Türkiye to conclude the Group Phase and to Finland in the Round of 16.
"Alimpijevic is the leader of a new generation of young Serbian coaches, who have already achieved excellent results and confirmed their quality on the European stage," read a statement on the Serbian Basketball Federation website.
Alimpijevic launched his coaching career in 2008 at the age of 22 as an assistant at Novi Sad, and a few years later took an assistant role at Vojvodina Srbijagas. He then became head coach at Vojvodina and led the team for a couple of seasons. Next, Alimpijevic coached for a couple of campaigns at Spartak Subotica.
The task is to preserve the cult of the National Team
He followed that with stints at FMP, Crvena Zvezda, Avtodor Saratov in Russia and Bursaspor in Türkiye, a team he led to a European cup final in 2022.
Alimpijevic has coached Besiktas for the past two seasons. He led the club to the Turkish league finals in the 2024-25 campaign.
"Alimpijevic is recognized as a person who possesses the expertise, authority and dedication needed to lead the national team at the highest level, while at the same time bringing some new energy necessary to achieve the results that are always expected from the senior Serbian national team," the federation said in its statement.
The federation offered more insight in an Instagram post, writing: "Alimpijevic is known as a coach with a modern and energetic style - a lot of transition, aggressive defense and enormous trust in young players. His career shows that he knows how to build teams, develop talents and give his stamp to every club he leads. "Now he faces his biggest challenge so far - coach of Serbia. The task is to continue where the previous coaching staff, led by the famous coach Svetislav Pesic, left off, to preserve the cult of the national team and bring new energy to our national team."
Alimpijevic will coach the national team in FIBA competition for the first time in the European Qualifiers for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027.
Serbia will play in Group D against Switzerland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Türkiye. Alimpijevic's first two games at the helm will be at home against Switzerland on November 27 and at Bosnia and Herzegovina on November 30.
FIBA