LARAMIE – Matija Belic grew up playing tennis, water polo and "a bunch" of other sports.
 
Deep down the Serbian native knew he was born to play basketball.
 
Belic's father, Goran, was an accomplished professional player and decorated member of the Yugoslavian national team.
 
"I started late at 12 or 13 (years old)," Belic said. "But I think I knew from the beginning that I was going to play basketball. Since I started watching basketball that has been my passion, and I just enjoy every single moment and every single practice."
 
Belic, who was diagnosed with a torn labrum over the summer, has mostly been watching the 2024-25 Wyoming men's basketball team since joining the program as a transfer from UC Santa Barbara.
 
But the 6-foot-7 junior forward from Belgrade, Serbia, is healthy now and made his debut with the Cowboys during last Saturday's loss to BYU in Salt Lake City. Belic finished with four points, two rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes off the bench.
 
"Obviously, you can see I was missing practices," Belic said of knocking off some rust in his return to the court. "Not just in shape wise but everything, including kind of losing the feel for the contact. But I don't want to blame that on my performance. My shoulder (feels) good and I'm ready to go, plain and simple.
 
"I want to get as many reps as I can, as much contact as I can and be great in practice. Everything else will take care of itself. I'm just ready to hoop right now."
 
Belic averaged 3.9 points and 2.4 rebounds last season at UC Santa Barbara. He entered the portal determined to find a coach who would appreciate and utilize his versatile skill set.
 
After committing to Jeff Linder – who said Belic was ready to "hit the ground running in the Mountain West" – he decided to stick with UW after the change at head coach.
 
Assistant Nick Whitmore was retained by new head coach Sundance Wicks and helped retain Belic, who is viewed by the staff as an ideal "connect four man" at the stretch forward position.
 
"He makes us better because of the way he communicates and over communicates and just how he lives it," Wicks said. "I think what makes him different out there is his ability to stretch it. He knows how to make the right play, he knows how to keep the flow, and that is in integral piece to this puzzle."
 
The Cowboys have an outstanding point guard in Obi Agbim, who leads the team in scoring (18.3 ppg) and assists (3.7 apg). Kobe Newton is a capable shooting guard and Jordan Nesbitt has been filling up the stat sheet at the three position. The three-man rotation at center (Cole Henry, Scottie Ebube and Oleg Kojenets) is combing for 14.6 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
 
Belic will give the lineup a boost at the four spot with Touko Tainamo and Abou Magassa.
 
"We have a lot of really talented players on the team, and we all know what we can do. I think we're still kind of finding everyone's role," Belic said. "Obviously, it's a new team, new coach and we're all coming from different spots, playing different roles and coming to a higher level to Mountain West basketball.
 
"We've had a tough stretch, but I think we'll bounce back. You always have ups and downs in a season, and it only matters how you finish. Hopefully we'll find our team chemistry when it matters the most."
 
Belic, like every aspiring player in Serbia, has the ultimate basketball role model from their country in three-time NBA most valuable player and unassuming Denver Nuggets superstar Nicola Jokic.
 
"I mean, he just makes everybody else better. That's how he inspires me," Belic said of Jokic. "Because it's not just can you score, can you jump, can you shoot. It's being a great teammate and making others better. He's inspired a lot of kids in Serbia and those of us who are playing and already grown up and still learning from him and trying to pick up whatever we can from him."
 
Wicks noted that Jokic, who was also the Finals MVP when the Nuggets won the franchise's first NBA championship in 2023, still runs sprints after practice when no one is looking. He said Belic was doing the same thing on the sideline at every practice while recovering from surgery.
 
"He likes to be coached," Wicks said. "To me that's what takes you from good to great if you can take hard coaching or if you can take coaching in general. If you coach it, a lot of it doesn't matter if they can't receive it. He likes to receive instruction and what makes him special is he can translate it and carry it over."
 
Belic will make his home debut in the brown and gold when the Cowboys (5-5) host Bellarmine on Thursday at the Arena-Auditorium (6:30 p.m., MW Network).
 
If you are interested in learning more about NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) or would like to support our student-athletes, please visit 1wyo.org. 1WYO was created out of Wyoming's culture of neighbor helping neighbor. The mission is to promote and strengthen local charitable organizations and develop Wyoming student athletes. 
 
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