Fab-ulous senior: Team facilitator, glue guy relishes role as lone senior

By Glenn Junkert
For GoGriz.com

Almost every college basketball senior who plays four years for one coach at one school is recruited by that same coach.

Not so for Montana senior center Fabijan Krslovic, who – as a high school standout from Milsons Point, New South Wales, Australia – committed to play Grizzly basketball for then head coach Wayne Tinkle... just a few weeks before Tinkle departed for Oregon State and current coach Travis DeCuire was hired.

An unexpected coaching change is enough to make any new recruit consider his options, and Krslovic said that when he heard the news, he had some thoughts.

"Being the last player technically recruited and signed by Tinkle, I was a bit nervous about the changes," he recalls.

"I thought about it for a little bit. Maybe a day. Then I thought, 'Nah! I'm going to stick to it," the rangy Krslovic said with a slight shrug and a big grin.

"It's worked out wonderfully," he quickly added.

DeCuire, his coach for the past three years, remembers it well.

"When I first got the job, he was hard to catch up with," DeCuire said. "He was in Australia, I think I had the wrong phone number or something and it just took forever to catch up with him. I thought maybe he wasn't coming.

"But when I got to campus, I had a text saying, 'Coach, I got your message, I'm looking forward to playing with you. See you soon.'

"He showed up," DeCuire said. "And going into the second game of the season his freshman year, I put him in the lineup and haven't looked back. He's been that guy ever since."

Krslovic made similar first impressions with Montana fans. Minutes into his first game as a lanky 6-8 Griz freshman, Krslovic intercepted an errant pass at half court and scored on a breakaway dunk. It mattered little that he hung on the rim awkwardly, and fell to the floor flat on his back after the dunk. The crowd's roar of approval was enough. The rest is Griz hoops history.

"I got to the point where I needed a guy like that on the floor all the time," DeCuire said. "He wasn't the most athletic, didn't shoot the ball the best... But what he did do was play consistent. He picked up well on details, he didn't make mistakes, and overall, he just did things the right way."

Including that first game, Krslovic has since played in every single one of Montana's ensuing 98 games – 82 of them as a starter.

As a freshman and sophomore, Krslovic was an ideal front-court partner to Martin Breunig, a two-time Big Sky Conference all-star and Montana's powerhouse offensive force. Alongside Breunig, Krslovic honed his skills as a top-caliber shot-blocker and rebounder, an excellent assist-dishing passer, and a team leader in steals – all while also creating floor space for Breunig to score.

But Krslovic forged his reputation as an outstanding post presence in the Big Sky Conference – not as an offensive facilitator, but as a slightly undersized but formidable defender, adept at proper positioning, rebounding and intercepting passes into the paint.

Last season, Krslovic ranked eighth in the Big Sky in overall rebounding, sixth in offensive rebounds, 14th in defensive rebounds, and 15th in steals – a category normally dominated by guards.

"Fab naturally stands out on defense more because he allows you to play so many different ways," DeCuire said. "You can hedge ball screens, you can switch ball screens. He's kind of quarterbacked us a bit when we've doubled the post."

Last year, after Breunig's graduation, Krslovic upped his offensive output slightly, raising his scoring average to 7.6 points per game. But Krslovic seems more focused on helping his teammates put the ball into the hoop.

Krslovic conveyed a sense of genuine excitement for several of his teammates who possess the explosive offensive potential he struggles with.

"Last year Fab was the only post, and I don't know that being the isolation post, the multiple touch guy down low, is really his strength," DeCuire said. "He's really good at getting the ball where it needs to go and then finding ways to create offense and get involved with others."

As a result, Krslovic says he relishes a return to his role as a team facilitator.

He'll do that with a new front-court teammate, incoming 6-8 junior transfer forward Jamar Akoh, a player that, according to Krslovic, has tremendous offensive potential.

"The coaches have been playing me and Jamar a lot together," Krslovic said. "Comparing me to Jamar, I'm the facilitator of us two, so if we're trying to get the ball to the post to score, we'll get it to him, whereas I'm getting into positions where I can help other guys get open."

"The pair will be fire and ice," DeCuire added. "They're very different from each other, but I think they're very good at playing off of each other."

Krslovic's skills as an on-floor coach extend to other players as well. And DeCuire does have lofty expectations of his senior forward's role as a team leader.

"Even though he stands out more for us defensively, he knows who to set screens for and when, he knows how to make the extra pass, and he just makes the offense work," DeCuire said. "If you have a guy in the middle that understands concepts, plays hard, plays with heart and plays a tough physical game, you've got a chance... and that's Fab.

"Fab's an extension of the coaching staff, especially for being on this team for three years. He's a very good communicator, and he's good at knowing when things break down who to communicate with to get it right. He coaches from the end line in practice when he's not in, he's helped the young guys out a lot, and that's been our strength. Fab's been our glue."

It's a role that the team's lone senior delights in.

"Trav and Coach (Chris) Cobb have been here since I've been here, and I believe I have a pretty good feel for what they want out of the players and what they're trying to do on the court," Krslovic said. "The coaches are always looking for someone on the court to talk, and if I'm talking other guys are more inclined to talk."

Krslovic's leadership by example has resulted in recognition, including twice being honored as the recipient of the Dennis T Murphy Coaches' Award. Last season Krslovic was recognized as a CollegeSportsMadness.com player of the week.

His leadership also extends well beyond the basketball court. As a sophomore and a junior, Krslovic was named to the Academic All-Big Sky Conference team, and last year earned NABC Honors Court recognition for his 4.0 academic GPA at UM.

Monday, Krslovic and his teammates will step on the floor for what will be his final year as a Montana Grizzly.

For the second straight year, Montana faces a brutal pre-season schedule before conference play begins. Krslovic has no specific statistical goals for the season, but does have high expectations.

"I don't want to curse anything, but I feel really good about this year," he said. "We've got to really be focused in pre-season on not take any game for granted.

"A big thing for us this year is maturity. We all learned a lot from last year and the struggles we had, and the things we did succeed in last year."

A conversation with GoGriz.com
GoGriz.com spent a few minutes in conversation with Montana senior center Fabijan Krslovic.

GG: You have a reputation around the Big Sky Conference as an outstanding defensive center. Is that something you focus on?
FK: I think defense and steals are a big part of my game. Every practice since my freshman year we've had one of the managers keep stats on steals, deflections, and that's something that Travis (DeCuire) emphasizes. He even says that we should be getting a deflection a minute, so that's something I try hard to do. I've found that that's something I can do pretty well, and a way to make up for the lack of athleticism or the lack of speed. Positioning has a lot to do with it and being in the right spot at the right time, and being active is really the basis of defense.

GG: How is the game of basketball in Australia different than in the United States?
FK: Coming from Australia, fundamentals are something that's taught a lot. Working hard on defense is something that has been ingrained in the basketball culture there. It is a bit different than here, because here they focus a bit more on the offensive side of the game. Guys come over all the time from Australia and very rarely are they going to be standout offensive players, but everyone (in Australia) is taught to play defense solid and to play it the right way. That's part of the culture in Australia, for sure. During my freshman year (at Montana) that's why I was getting minutes. Defense was all I had to worry about, and since then that's what I have focused on a lot.

GG: For the second straight season, Montana faces a brutal non-conference against major universities. Is that daunting?
FK: I'm 100 percent with Travis on this schedule. I really like having a tough schedule. We've had years where you can have a game against a non-DI school and you end up playing to the level of competition. You might end up winning the game by 20 to 30 points, but you won't get the benefit you would by playing against the best competition in the country. Last year, when we played against most of those really tough teams, we played really well. So, we saw what we could do, we just have to play to more consistency. Last year, sometimes the ball just didn't fall our way, but also it was a simple matter of not pulling through in the end.

GG: You've received academic recognition as an outstanding student-athlete in the Big Sky Conference. Has the University of Montana been a good match for you?
FK: I love this school. It's a great school. When I was growing up, my parents always had a huge emphasis on education and school and doing as well as I could. I've always carried that mentality with me. It's tough at times to balance basketball and school, but it's something I've learned to do. The coaches emphasize it to us as well. The coaches, and especially Trav, have had a huge emphasis on academics, because he wants everyone here to succeed. I've always taken it seriously myself, but seeing how seriously the coaches take it, I've been motivated to push myself a little harder.

University of Montana Athletics

Fab-ulous senior: Team facilitator, glue guy relishes role as lone senior

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