Ivo Baltic said he sees the start of his professional career in Croatia as a fresh start after he signed a four-year contract with Cedevita Zagreb in mid-August.
The club is a member of the A-1 basketball league, which is the top professional league in Croatia and a participant in Eurocup.
Baltic, who graduated from Ohio University in the spring, was born in Bosnia and has Croatian citizenship, and his father is Croatian.
Following his sophomore season, Baltic’s numbers dipped for the remainder of his collegiate career.
During his sophomore season at Ohio he averaged 11.4 points per game, but during the following two seasons, he averaged less than 10 points each year.
His field goal percentage also dropped from .535 to .468 and his free throw percentage dropped from .783 to .385 from his sophomore to senior years, respectively.
Baltic said that after his sophomore season, he got away from what he did best, which was get to the basket and free throw line, so when he tried out for Cedevita Zagreb in July, Baltic said he knew it was time to make amends.
“I just kept putting more and more pressure on myself those two years,” Baltic said. “When I got (to Croatia), I said look, man, this is hit or miss, if you don’t do this, you’re not going to make the team, you’re not going to be successful playing anymore and it was a mental block for me and I was finally able to overcome it.”
After the season, he took a break from basketball. Baltic said it was more of a mental than physical break, because he suffered from maturity issues his senior season and the break from basketball allowed him to rekindle his love for the game.
“I’ve got my hunger back,” he said. “I wasn’t as hungry as I should have been my senior year and I take full responsibility for it. Everything’s a learning process; I learned from it and now it’s time to move on.”
Baltic said he wasn’t sure what life would hold for him after his collegiate career ended on the wrong note.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Baltic said. “I felt like I had a terrible senior year personally and I didn’t think I was going to go overseas, so I didn’t feel like working out at the time. I didn’t feel like doing anything, I just wanted to kick back and relax.”
Baltic said the fresh start would allow him to have a clean slate and consequently not put as much pressure on himself.
“I see this as a completely new beginning, something great,” Baltic said. “I truly believe that and I’m just looking forward to it and I can’t wait to get down there to showcase my talent.”
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