Canadian basketball player and businessman
Mike Brkovich ( BURR -kə-vitch ;[ 1] born April 6, 1958) is a Canadian former basketball player from Windsor, Ontario . He is currently a Windsor-based automotive exporter and real estate developer.[ 2]
Basketball career
Of Serbian background (Serbian : Брковић, Brković ), Brkovich played high school basketball at W. D. Lowe in Windsor. The team won the Ontario Provincial Championship in 1976 and 1977.[ 3]
Brkovich played as a shooting guard on the Michigan State Spartans team that won the 1979 NCAA tournament , defeating Larry Bird 's Indiana State Sycamores in the final game. Brkovich opened an earlier tournament game against Notre Dame game with a slam dunk , from which the Fighting Irish never recovered.[ 4] The following year, Brkovich was the team's co-captain.[ 5]
Brkovich was drafted 181st overall (8th round) by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1981, but never played in the NBA.[ 6] [ 5]
He was a member of the Canadian national basketball team which finished fourth in the 1979 Pan American Games . He and the rest of the team were unable to play in the 1980 Summer Olympics , due to the boycott that year .[ 5]
Brkovich was inducted into the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.[ 5]
Business career
Brkovich founded a successful auto export dealership in Windsor, and later expanded into real estate ownership and development.[ 2] He has advocated for the preservation and restoration of historically significant buildings in Windsor.[ 7]
References
^ "Powerplay Sports Flashback: Mike Brkovich" . Retrieved 29 June 2020 .
^ a b Joyce, Gare (March 2004). "The Man Behind Magic" . TOROmagazine : 37. Retrieved March 18, 2014 .
^ "OFSAA Past Champions: Boys' Basketball" . Retrieved March 17, 2014 .
^ "Brkovich remains Spartan at heart" . The Windsor Star . April 2, 2009. Archived from the original on June 11, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2014 .
^ a b c d "Mike Brkovich" . Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved March 18, 2014 .
^ "1981 NBA Draft" . basketball-reference.com . Retrieved March 18, 2014 .
^ Schmidt, Doug (April 26, 2013). "More bulldozers feared by Windsor's heritage lovers" . The Windsor Star . Retrieved March 18, 2014 .