Growing Gains Put Illinois Tech's Dugalic on Path to Bright Basketball Future
Maine West Grad Plays in D-III All-Star Game Saturday
Milos Dugalic experienced some significant growing gains as a basketball player at Illinois Tech University.
Dugalic stood 6-feet-4 when he arrived at Illinois Tech’s campus on Chicago’s South Side from Maine West in 2018. A couple of years later he had a late growth spurt and shot up to 6-9.
“I was as surprised as everybody else,” Dugalic said.
That wasn’t the only growth for Dugalic. He augmented the physical gains by using a COVID-canceled season to work on improving his game. The combination led to first-team all-Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) honors in his final two seasons, and through a nomination by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and an online fan vote, a spot in Saturday’s Reese’s Division III all-star game at 11 a.m. Chicago time in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The roller-coaster voting numbers over two days was wilder than watching results on an election night. But finishing first with 243,061 votes was worth any stress for an opportunity to showcase his skills and take another step toward a possible pro career.
“It was super crazy and every now and then I would check it,” Dugalic said of finishing nearly 25,000 votes ahead of Isaiah Geathers of Lehman College in New York. “You never knew who took the lead and I was always on the edge of my seat.
“Obviously I was excited at first but I kind of couldn’t believe it. It showed all the work I put in through the years paid off. It felt good personally to make it to this level.”
Dugalic averaged 17.2 points a game on 52.5 percent shooting this season. His 12.4 rebounds a game and 18 double-doubles both ranked eighth in Division III and he averaged 2.4 assists. As a junior he averaged 15.3 points and 8.3 rebounds a game.
Oh, and Dugalic also maintained a 3.86 GPA in engineering and he was able to use his fifth year in school in Illinois Tech’s co-terminal program to get his undergraduate and graduate degrees.
“His development has been remarkable,” said Illinois Tech coach T.J. Gray, who was an assistant on the staff that recruited Dugalic. “We were expecting him to be a ‘3 and D’ guy. Last year was kind of a breakout year and he put everyone on notice with his versatility. He was a legit point forward for us.
“It was tremendous to see his work ethic on and off the court and his dedication to his craft. He really is someone who wasn’t only producing on the court but he was a great leader off the court.”
Dugalic played primarily an off-guard or small forward, with a little point guard, as Maine West won a Central Suburban North title his senior year. He also had college interest from North Central and the Milwaukee School of Engineering but felt wanted by then-Illinois Tech coach Todd Kelly.
He liked the opportunity to play right away in a competitive atmosphere. Attending a prestigious engineering school was also important to his mom Vesna Novakovic and his dad Dragovan Dugalic. He was a part-time starter as a freshman and moved into the lineup full-time as a sophomore as he averaged 10.4 points a game.
But there would be no 2020-21 season for Dugalic because Illinois Tech was the only NACC school that opted not to play games because of COVID concerns. So Dugalic leaned on the drive instilled in him and his sister Angela, who starred at Maine West and missed this season at UCLA with a torn ACL after starting her college career at Oregon, by their parents.
“Whatever we did they always wanted us to be bought in and do the best we could,” Milos said. “They always wanted us competing and playing and not in front of a screen 24/7. That was huge for us growing up.”
Illinois Tech could still practice and Dugalic used the time to get in the gym and the weight room to fully take advantage of his growth spurt.
“That year was difficult but it’s when I also took one of my biggest leaps as a player,” Dugalic said. “Watching everyone else in the conference play and us not playing was very difficult. For me personally I thought about how everybody else was playing and I used that to fuel me to get out of bed every morning to work out. It was mostly strength and agility but I was always working on the skill aspect of my game.”
The improvement was evident when Dugalic and Illinois Tech returned to game action in 2021-22. The skills he always had for bringing the ball up the court and shooting outside were better and now he was a significant inside threat at 6-9. But there was still an area that needed work as he headed into his final collegiate season.
“Last year it looked like there was pressure on my shoulders sometimes,” he said. “This year I really got rid of it and let the game come to me. I wasn’t forcing anything and I was doing what I had to do to help the team.”
Especially after Dugalic missed 4 late-season games because of a groin injury. He came back for the final four regular-season games and Gray said he returned to form right away to help Illinois Tech win twice and make the NACC playoffs.
Then the focus for Dugalic turned to his future. He always dreamed of playing professionally and it became more realistic as he saw he could hang with the best players and grew in size. Former Illinois Tech teammate Max Hisatake, who is playing professionally in Japan, has provided his share of advice to Dugalic.
“I’ve talked to some agents and they think I could have a very good career overseas,” Dugalic said.
“He’s a very unique player with his size and versatility and he has dual citizenship here and in Serbia so that makes him an interesting prospect in Europe,” Gray said. “There are a couple of good opportunities and a couple of showcases he may be able to get into. That’s why I’m really excited (about the all-star game) because I know how much this means to him to go play.”
Dugalic has been working with Gray and playing in some competitive leagues in Chicago to prepare for this weekend and beyond. Gray and his parents will be in Fort Wayne for the all-star game as well.
“I definitely want to get as much exposure as I can,” Dugalic said. “I’m excited. There is so much going on with agents and them talking to me. A lot of good things are happening right now and I’m trying to enjoy every day.”