Veterans Antic, Ilievski in MKD preliminary squad

SKOPJE (EuroBasket 2015) - Pero Antic is among an intriguing mix of veterans and youngsters on the 24-strong preliminary squad of The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD) for EuroBasket 2015.

The 33-year-old power forward, who did not suit up for MKD in last summer's EuroBasket 2015 2nd Qualification Round, helped the NBA's Atlanta Hawks achieve their best regular season record (60-22) in franchise history.

Coach Aleksandar Dzikic also has 35-year-old veteran Vlado Ilievski among the 24, as well as power forward Gjorgji Chekovski, who turns 36 in December, and 34-year-old playmaker Dimitar Mirakovski.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the preliminary roster includes promising young talent like 19-year-old Andrej Magdevski, who played in the qualification campaign last year, 20-year-old big man Ljubomir Mladenovski and 18-year-old forward Andrej Maslinko.

The youngest player on MKD's preliminary roster is 17-year-old Nenad Dimitrijevikj.

The point guard led the U16 European Championship Division B of 2014 in assists (9.3 apg) and was the fourth-top scorer at 16.3ppg.

Point guard Bo McCalebb and power forward Richard Hendrix are naturalized players on the list.

Hendrix put up great performances last summer, averaging a double-double of 11.2 points and 10.7 rebounds per game in the 2nd Qualification Round.

MKD are to commence preparations on 25 July in Skopje and the first stage of the training camp will be on home soil.

At EuroBasket 2015, Dzikic's men will play in Group C in Zagreb against Georgia, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Greece and Croatia.

MKD preliminary roster for EuroBasket 2015: Pero Antic, Vladimir Brckov, Gjorgij Chekovski, Ivica Dimchevski, Nenad Dimitrijevikj, Stojan Gjuroski, Richard Hendrix, Vlado Ilievski, Marjan Janeski, Dimitar Karadzovski, Aleksandar Kostoski, Bojan Krstevski, Andrej Magdevski, Andrej Maslinko, Dimitar Mirakovski, Bo McCalebb, Ljubomir Mladenovski, Kiril Nikolovski, Predrag Samardziski, Marko Simonovski, Darko Sokolov, Damjan Stojanovski, Vojdan Stojanovski and Bojan Trajkovski.

Go to eurobasket2015.org for full coverage of EuroBasket 2015.

FIBA