Exit Interview: Purdue's Sasha Stefanovic

Sasha Stefanovic leaves Purdue as one of the most prolific three-point shooters in the history of Boilermaker basketball, having delivered some of the most memorable shooting performances the program has seen.

As he prepares for what he hopes will be a professional career either domestic or abroad, he admits that he would not have predicted the success he enjoyed playing for the school he grew up wanting to play for.

Stefanovic looks back on this and much more here in this GoldandBlack.com Exit Interview.

GoldandBlack.com: What will you remember most about your Purdue career?

Stefanovic: "There's a lot of different things. Going through the whole process of being a college basketball player and all the struggles and the good times that come with it, it's a really rewarding experience and I'm glad I got to do it at the place I always wanted to and always dreamed of.

"But just meeting a lot of different people along the way, having a lot of different coaches come and go and get head coaching jobs and meeting a lot of different alumni from the JPC and all the people around the program who make a really big difference, throughout my college experience that's been a really great thing to make these connections."

GoldandBlack.com: You're leaving with a finance degree — and a minor in organizational leadership — and you'll have a Master's in human resources management. Seems like you maximized the college experience in that regard.

Stefanovic: "That was a big thing about the idea of redshirting, too. Talking to Coach Painter about it, it was, 'You can come out on the other side not only a better basketball player, but better academically.' You set yourself up a lot of different ways. If basketball doesn't work out, you have the rest of your life to work. How are you going to do that without relying on your education and the connections you make with people? That was a big deal and something I really wanted to emphasize and now I'm getting two degrees from one of the best universities in the world."

GoldandBlack.com: Best win of your career?

Stefanovic: "We had a lot of good ones, and it's good to have a lot of difficult choices. There were a lot early in my career. There was that win against Virginia at home, my first-ever start. That was significant for me and I played really well in that game.

"I legitimately never imagined I would have played a lot at Purdue, and I never imagined I would have started a game, and my first-ever start, they were the reigning champs that year. To get that, that was really cool.

"I think winning the Big Ten title at Northwestern was amazing, and then probably that Sweet 16 game against Tennessee, when we kind of grinded it out at the end, got over that hump and reached the Elite Eight."

GoldandBlack.com: The loss that will stick with you longest?

Stefanovic: "Obviously the last one (vs. Saint Peter's) was a really difficult one to swallow. You look ahead at everything that happens with an NCAA Tournament and think you have a great chance to make the Final Four, maybe get to the championship game, but it is what it is. You have to live with those losses.

"That one, and the Virginia one. You take your lumps and just learn from those experiences and try to enjoy it for what it was."

GoldandBlack.com: Who was the best player you played with?

Stefanovic: "That's a good toss-up between Jaden and Carsen, but I honestly think Jaden is just an unbelievable, generational talent and people at Purdue didn't appreciate him at certain times, but his talent is something that just doesn't come along very often. His ability to make plays for himself or for others, get to the rim. He really worked on his shooting and his decision-making and struggled at times with some of that, but he's a really young kid who got thrown into the spotlight really quickly and really adapted, really learned fast, and now he's put himself in a great position to be a top-five pick and make a huge impact in the NBA.

"He's unbelievable. I really enjoyed my time playing with him. He made me a lot better and hopefully along the way I helped him mature a little more, understand things better. Hopefully I played a small part in him being the player he is today."

GoldandBlack.com: Who was the best player you played against?

Stefanovic: "We'd talk a lot about the hardest people to guard. Michigan runs a lot of tough stuff to guard, a great offense with a lot of pro-style stuff. My freshman year, I guarded Jordan Poole for a little bit, and he was really talented, really shifty and just a really great player, but I think, honestly, the toughest player to guard overall was Franz Wagner.

"That kid was another generational-type talent, 6-10 and he can really shoot the ball and he has guard skills. He doesn't do anything too flashy, but he's just super-productive, and I always thought he was a whole different type of player. Offensively, he wasn't the greatest player they had, but I was just always impressed with his game.

"But there's a lot of great players that I guarded a little bit. My freshman year, I guarded Amir Coffey the three games we played them, when I'd come in, and it was the same thing — a 6-7 point guard who was just such a unique challenge to guard."

GoldandBlack.com: When you held off on signing, likely with Loyola or Valpo, in order to wait on Purdue to find a scholarship so they could sign and redshirt you, did you see yourself having the sort of career you did?

Stefanovic: "I'd have expected a lot less going into it. Anywhere you go, you start at the bottom, the last guy on the roster, and you just have to chip away and continue to work. I always felt like I was at the bottom. My talent wasn't (as great), I wasn't highly recruited, I wasn't a big-time recruit.

"I had the chance to go my dream school and that worked out, but then the real work starts and you have to earn everything here. It becomes, 'I got here, but am I good enough to be here, good enough to play, good enough to get minutes, good enough to whatever?' My career was a major success in my eyes. It may not be in other peoples' eyes, but I did everything I wanted to do in college basketball and then some.

"I talked to Coach Painter before I left for Miami to train and just reiterated that I never expected any of this, even the chance to play professional basketball. Obviously it's every kid's dream growing up playing basketball, but I never would have imagined being in a position where it's possible now, getting NBA workouts, hopefully getting a Summer League spot, maybe playing overseas or whatever.

"It's a tremendous position I've put myself in and it's because of the people at Purdue who helped me get there. It all worked out more than I ever thought it would."

GoldandBlack.com: Who gave you COVID last year?

Stefanovic: "I never (found out). Our staff does a great job emphasizing little things that are really important and that whole COVID year it was about making sure you stayed safe, stayed away from different people you're not always around. My schedule every day that year was the same. I'd wake up, go to class if I had class, lift, practice, go get something to eat and go home. I literally did the same thing every single day.

"Some how, some way, one of those areas someone gave me COVID.

"It was unbelievable, sitting out 21 days, then jumping right back into elite college basketball, it wasn't ideal, but what can you do?"

GoldandBlack.com: Stupid question: Did you wear 55 because it looks like two backwards Ss?

Stefanovic: "No. It just worked out that way. I never really had a tie to that number, but the way it worked out it actually looked pretty cool with my name and everything. My freshman year, I gave Coach (Elliot) Bloom a ton of numbers that would be possibilities. I was 33 in high school and wanted 33 but that was E'Twaun (Moore) and nobody's really touching that one. (Bloom) said, '55 works,' and that was fine. That was Spike (Albrecht's) number too, and there was a cool tie with that, too (being that both were from Crown Point).

"E'Twaun wore (55) in the NBA and E'Twaun's one of my favorite Purdue players ever."

GoldandBlack.com: How do you want to be remembered around Purdue?

Stefanovic: "I couldn't care less how people remember me with basketball, to be honest. I care more about how people remember me as a person. If you've met me, you know I'm a very normal person. I don't have any ego, I don't have any expectation that people know me or not .... Making connections, I just hope people remember those interactions I had with people and thought that I was a good person and everything that comes with that."

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