A closer look at George Mason's newest recruit Marko Gujanicic

Marko Gujanicic joins Patrick Holloway in George Mason's recruiting class of 2012 after giving a verbal commitment to Paul Hewitt and the coaching staff over the weekend.  Gujanicic, a native of Serbia, is one who has great passing skills for a 6'8"-6'9" guy and can put the ball on the floor.  If you watched the video in my post from yesterday you will notice he also can be a deadly three-point shooter. His size gives Mason the possibility of having some "big" lineups that most CAA teams won't be able to match up with. Consider a lineup that includes Marko with a combination of  Jonathan Arledge (6'9" 228lbs), Anali Okoloji (6'8" 232), Johnny Williams (6'8" 266), and Erik Copes (6'8" 244).  Can't remember the last time I've seen that much height/size on a George Mason roster. How Hewitt and his staff utilize Marko's skill set will be interesting to see. Will he play the wing in a small forward role, or will big man coach Roland Houston try to make him a post player? With what Houston has done for Pearson and Morrison this season I wouldn't mind seeing the latter. 

Back in November, Andy Durham of Greensboro Sports saw Gujanicic play against national high school powerhouse Oak Hill Academy. Here is his evaluation on Gujanicic:

"Gujanicic is your genetic highly skilled European player. At 6’9", he can play on the perimeter or in the low post area. This past summer, Gujanicic played on the Serbian 19U National team and averaged 10 PPG and 6 RPG. He is highly skilled, fundamentally sound and is deadly from the 3 point line. He has the ability to put the ball on the floor and is excellent ball handler and passer for his size and position. Gujanicic enjoyed a solid night for his team by having a team high 18 points. He is very versatile and fluid and without question is a lock for mid-major plus program and could easily step into a high major program that is in need of a talented face up PF. Currently, he has offered from UTEP and Rhode Island, but this list should continue to grow once more schools find out about the talented Gujanicic. In speaking with his high school coach, Gujanicic is averaging 17 PPG, 11 RPG and 4 APG for Stoneridge in their first 4 games."

Scoring 18 points against an Oak Hill team that is littered with Division I talent is nothing to scoff at. Both incoming recruits are excellent three-point shooters, which is nice because this year's Patriots squad has struggled from behind the arch. The one thing I worry about is how he plays defense. Most Euro players and even Mason's most recent one Vlad Moldoveanu, don't play much defense. He might very well be a sound defender but it's tough to tell from watching highlight videos. Back in the Jim Larranaga era if he didn't think you were putting in enough effort on the defensive end you'd be benched.  Paul Hewitt isn't nearly as defensive minded as Larranaga and we've yet to see him yank freshman off the court as much as he did. So that issue might not be as big of a factor with Marko under Hewitt, but it is something he will most likely have to work on as he transitions to Division I.

Good to see his high school's website wasted no time putting this image up:

You can check out the rest of his school's website here.