Like Father, Like Son: McConathy shares unique bond with Zelenbaba family

FRISCO, Texas – Since 1992, the game of college basketball has undergone many changes: multiple reductions to the shot clock, extensions to the three-point line and the allowance of dunks in warm-ups.

However, for Northwestern State sophomore Jovan Zelenbaba and his father Andrej, one thing has remained the same: the man they called coach.

The winningest college basketball coach in Louisiana history, NSU head coach Mike McConathy has many feats on his coaching resume. A state-record 664 wins at the college level. Two Southland Conference Coach of the Year awards. Three Southland Conference Tournament titles and subsequent NCAA Tournament appearances. And an upset of No. 3 seed Iowa in the 2006 edition of the Big Dance.

But when Jovan Zelenbaba signed his National Letter of Intent on May 14, 2019, it added one more bullet-point to McConathy’s list, making him a legacy coach in an individual’s family.

During McConathy’s 16-year tenure at Bossier Parish Community College, he welcomed in a versatile, 6-foot-8-inch Yugoslavian by the name of Andrej Zelenbaba, who spent just the 1991-92 season under McConathy before joining coach Tim Floyd at New Orleans the following year.

“It’s a real joy to be a part of one of your former player’s families and see where his son is growing and the impact he can have in another generation,” McConathy said.

Jovan’s compulsory service in the Israeli military made it difficult to partake in the traditional recruiting process, leading him to enroll at Combine Academy in Charlotte, N.C., to get himself on the map.

Two months prior to his commitment, McConathy came to see him and, while he had received leads on some of his former player’s sons that didn’t pan out, Jovan was different.

“He’s a phenomenal athlete who can really, really run the floor,” McConathy recalls thinking from his first look at Jovan.

Zelenbaba’s flexibility, which has led to him playing anything from the one to a stretch-four, is something McConathy valued in both Jovan and Andrej.

“When you have somebody who can do those things, it makes a lot of difference in the concept of your team,” McConathy said.

That versatility was crucial during Bossier Parish’s 1991-92 campaign, when the Cavaliers lost both point guards and Andrej was forced to play everywhere.

“Andrej is a rare player that can do it all,” McConathy was quoted saying in the 1991-92 BPCC basketball media guide.

That resourcefulness became a theme during Andrej’s career overseas, where the game differed from America in that it was more about skill then size so, even at 6-8, he would play multiple positions.

As a mentor to a young Jovan, not pigeon-holing yourself became a point of emphasis for Andrej.

“He gave me all the tools I needed to be a player,” Jovan said. “He didn’t want me to just be one kind of player.”

But similarities that McConathy noticed in the Zelenbaba men did not just stop at their Swiss-Army-knife style of play. Even simple movements by Jovan will take McConathy back nearly 30 years.

“That’s something that not many coaches have the opportunity to do,” McConathy said. “To be able to reflect on someone you coached before and it be like looking in the mirror at the same guy.”

Their physical similarities even trip McConathy up enough to mistakenly call Jovan by his father’s name in practice after all this time.

“You would know he’s Andrej’s son, other than the size difference,” McConathy said.

Jovan has also shown his ability to model after his dad’s shooting ability, knocking down 46.9 percent of his shots in the Demons’ five Southland Conference contests. He also showed he can play against the best with a season high 14 points on 4-of-4 shooting from three at No. 1 Gonzaga on Dec. 22.

“There’s a lot of natural instincts that players take on from their parents that played the game,” McConathy said. “If they know the game, it’s one leg up.

In time that’s going to be a huge advantage for Jovan.”