Damir Krupalija

Damir Krupalija

Bilbao Basket
Small forward
Personal information
Date of birth	June 13, 1979 (1979-06-13) (age 32)
Place of birth	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia
Nationality	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	232 lb (105 kg)
Career information
College	Illinois
Pro career	2002–present
Career history
Anwil Wloclawek (2002-03) Spirou Charleroi (2003-07) Hyères-Toulon Var Basket (2010-11)
Stats at NBA.com

Damir Krupalija (born June 13, 1979, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia) is a Bosnian professional basketball player. Krupalija played at the University of Illinois in the US from 1998 to 2002. Currently, he is a member of Spanish Bilbao Basket.

Early years

Krupalija fled his war-torn country in 1992, living in the Czech Republic for three years before coming to the United States in 1995. His parents, Sead and Zora Krupalija, joined him a year later.

Career

After arriving in the United States, Krupalija attended Boylan Catholic High School in Rockford, Illinois, where he led the Titan basketball team to a fourth place finish in the 1997 Illinois state tournament. In 1998, he was named an all-state selection by the Chicago Tribune and Associated Press. He was also named to the 1996 and 1997 State Farm Holiday Classic All-Tournament teams, and in 2003 was named to the Holiday Classic All-Quarter Century Team voted on by the fans.

After graduating from high school, Krupalija played basketball for the University of Illinois. Although his career at Illinois was often hampered by injuries, the 6'9" forward was well regarded for his rebounding ability and fiery attitude on the court.^[1] In his senior year (2001–2002), Krupalija, coming off the bench, was named as the Most Valuable Player at the Las Vegas Invitational Tournament.

In 2002, Krupalija moved to Poland, where he played forward for Anwil Wloclawek and won the 2002-2003 Polish National Championship. The following season he relocated to Belgium and joined Spirou Charleroi. They won the 2003-2004 Belgian National Championship. He played for Spirou Charleroi until end of 2007 season.

As of 2010, Krupalija plays for French team Hyères-Toulon Var Basket. In November 2011, he signs with Bilbao Basket for a month and a half.

References

1. ^ Gould, Herb (2002-03-10). "Krupalika looks ready for heavier duty". Chicago Sun-Times. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CSTB&p_theme=cstb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F364ACBD6BD1339&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. 

External links

Persondata
Name	Krupalija, Damir
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 13, 1979
Place of birth	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia
Date of death
Place of death