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P11
December 2013
– by Cooper Nelson
Although the Serbian-born center was one of
Michigan’s top high school prospects and is
considered important to GCU’s NCAA Division I
basketball future, few people know his path from
his Balkan homeland to Phoenix.
Jaksic was born in Belgrade, Serbia, during the civil
wars that tore apart the former Yugoslavia. When
he was 7, he moved to Canada with his family to
escape the violence.
The family planned a move to Michigan, to be
near relatives, but post-9/11 restrictions made
immigration to the United States a difficult and
lengthy process. They opted to move to Canada
instead, settling in Windsor, Ontario, five miles
north of Detroit.
After 11 years away from Serbia, the freshman
remains shaken by memories of his childhood home.
“I remember seeing the bombs explode and
people panicking. The sky was like fireworks,” said
Jaksic, who goes by Miro.
“We lived in a one-room apartment on the ninth
floor and I remember my mom taking us down to
the bunker at nights,” he said. “I’ll never forget that.”
Jaksic, 18, took English classes in school in Serbia,
much like Americans who take Spanish or French
language classes. But he understood little English
when he first arrived in Ontario. He and his
mother – who goes by
Grace
, an easier English
pronunciation than her Serbian name – mastered
the language through rigorous study and repetition
from an English language book.
“Coming to Canada, I only knew ‘dog’ and ‘cat,’”
Jaksic joked. “I couldn’t communicate with that. I
learned the whole language in one summer. It
wasn’t hard, just a lot of work.”
Grace Jaksic began teaching Miro and his younger
siblings English the first day they arrived in Canada. But
she made sure they spoke Serbian at home in order to
maintain ties to their roots and relatives in Serbia.
T
owering over most students at 6-foot-11, Grand Canyon
University men’s basketball player
Miroslav Jaksic
rarely
goes unnoticed on campus.
“I always pushed (my kids) to
learn English, and everyone
was amazed at how fast
Miro learned it,” Grace
Jaksic said. “Without knowing
the language, he couldn’t do
anything or be successful.”
Jaksic overcame the language
barrier and excelled in the
classroom in junior high.
With his basketball career
already taking off, his parents
sent him to live with his
uncle in the Detroit area and
attend a school that could
earn him more exposure in
American sports.
Jaksic became a star at Walled
Lake Western High School and
was named Michigan’s top
high school center prospect
and
fifth-ranked
overall
prospect in 2013. He quickly
garnered attention from Division I
universities across the country, but
chose to sign with GCU and its new
head coach,
Dan Majerle
.
He plans to redshirt his first year as an
Antelope and dreams about a career
in pro basketball after graduation.
While Jaksic considers himself
Serbian,
Canadian
and
American, he is still looking for
his permanent home.
“I don’t really mind it. I like to
travel,” he said. “I guess you could say
I’m a journeyman.”
■
BORN INTO BATTLE
Freshman athlete recalls bombs,
panic of Balkan childhood
Miro Jaksic (right) plays keep-away with Akachi Okugo
during a photo shoot for the GCU men’s basketball team.
Photo by Darryl Webb