Neno Ašćerić

Playing career

Ašćerić began his playing career in Yugoslavia, working for second-division clubs from 1985 to 1989. He moved to UKJ SUBA Sankt Pölten of the Austrian Bundesliga in 1989, where he won five National Championship titles and three National Cups between 1993 and 1998. In 1997 he was named Bundesliga Player of the Year.

He transferred to PSG Racing in France in 1998, later playing for Crvena zvezda of the YUBA League and French clubs Le Mans Sarthe, Hyères-Toulon, and JA Vichy. He ended his playing career at UBC Sankt Pölten in fall 2006 after a stint as a playing assistant coach. Ašćerić also represented the Austrian national team.

Coaching career

After hanging up his sneakers, Ašćerić took coaching jobs with Bourg Basket in France’s top league and Saint-Quentin in the second division. He moved to Mexico in December 2008 to lead Lechugueros de León, posting a 16-6 record and guiding them to the postseason. That same year, he was appointed head coach of Austria’s national team. In February 2010, he added duties as head coach of the Oberwart Gunners in the Austrian Bundesliga, and in the 2010–11 season he won the national championship—his first coaching title.

Despite having a valid contract, he stepped down from Oberwart after they were eliminated in the playoff quarterfinals during the 2011–12 campaign. Late in November 2012, he took over the Oettinger Rockets in Germany’s second-tier ProA, inheriting a 14th-place team after Marko Simić left, but he asked to be released less than a week later. By December 2012, he had signed with Szolnoki Olaj in Hungary, a club also competing in the Adriatic League.

In January 2013, Werner Sallomon replaced him as Austria’s national team coach. After a sluggish start to the 2013–14 season in both the Hungarian league and the Adriatic League, Ašćerić terminated his contract in Hungary in December 2013, roughly a year after signing. He then became head coach of Austrian defending champions Zepter Vienna in early February 2014, replacing Darko Russo. In January 2015, he took the reins of French ProB side Lille Métropole, staying through the 2016–17 season before switching to fellow league club Hermine Nantes.

Did You Know?

• He coached his son Luka during stints with Lille Métropole and Hyères-Toulon.
• Ašćerić ended his playing career at age 41 with UBC Sankt Pölten in fall 2006.