Nikola Djogo has grown accustomed to being an unknown. Coming from Canada will do that, he said. The self-proclaimed “late bloomer” didn’t receive his first college offer until late in his senior year of high school at Saltfleet District High School, near his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario.

It was the University of North Florida that first came calling, extending Djogo a scholarship offer in April of 2015. Northeastern University followed soon after, but the 6-foot-7 swingman knew that he was good enough to play in a major conference. That’s why, after spending four years at Saltfleet, Djogo chose to take a postgraduate year two hours away at Athlete Institute Prep in Mono, Ontario.

“That’s when it all started to come together,” Djogo said.

It was there, while on a recruiting visit for current Milwaukee Bucks big man Thon Maker, that Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey first spotted Djogo, who impressed Brey immediately. Maker never played for the Irish. Soon enough, however, it had landed a commitment from his teammate.

Now a sophomore for Notre Dame (12-3, 2-0 Atlantic Coast), Djogo is playing on a national stage for the Irish. The next phase, Notre Dame’s first conference road game, comes in the Carrier Dome against Syracuse (12-3, 1-1) on Saturday. But with just 62 minutes played over 11 games this season, Djogo feels that people still don’t know who he is or what he can do. Notre Dame recently lost player of the year candidate Bonzie Colson to a foot injury and will be without his services for eight weeks, and Irish starting point guard Matt Farrell is doubtful for Saturday due to a sprained ankle. With its two leading scorers battling injuries, the Irish could benefit from its late bloomer coming into his own.

On Wednesday, during Notre Dame’s first game since Colson’s injury, Djogo played a career-high 13 minutes in an 88-58 win over North Carolina State. He scored two points and grabbed two rebounds, even tallying his first career block.

“There’s gonna be more opportunity,” said associate head coach Rod Balanis. “Whether that’s more minutes for Nik, John Mooney, Elijah Burns, D.J. Harvey or Austin Torres, we gotta have all those guys ready to go.”

Djogo’s been fighting for exposure his whole career, starting with recruiting and continuing now as he fights for playing time in South Bend. His time at Notre Dame has even served as a lesson for his father Djordje, a self-proclaimed “big football guy.”
On Djordje’s birthday in September of 2015, Djogo told his dad he’d be expecting a call.

“I said to him, ‘Nikola, I don’t really like surprises. Who’s gonna call?’” Djordje said. “I think he said, ‘Coach Brey.’ I said, ‘Who’s coach Brey?’”

Brey told Djordje that he’d like him and his son to visit Notre Dame, and that the Irish was interested in having Djogo play for the team.

“Half an hour into the visit I was already like, ‘There is no reason for us not to say yes,’” Djordje said. “It was very amazing. Almost like a movie script.”

A year later, Djogo was on campus, but with seniors V.J. Beachem and Steve Vasturia firmly entrenched at the wing position for Notre Dame, the decision was made for Djogo to redshirt.

He needed to work on his body and take better care of the ball, and extra time spent in the weight room and on the court helped him improve in both areas. With aid from strength and conditioning coach Tony Rolinski, who was impressed with Djogo’s athleticism but underwhelmed at his strength, Djogo spent more time in the weight room than the team’s obligatory twice-a-week lifting sessions. He put on 15 pounds during his first year, Mooney said, but on the court, his success stagnated.

“Being a freshman last year, I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes,” Djogo said. “I wasn’t practicing as well.”

Minimizing turnovers is a point of emphasis during Notre Dame practices, and as an inexperienced guard last year Djogo would get loose with the ball. His mistakes were magnified in practice and as a redshirt, he didn’t have the opportunity to prove himself during games. Notre Dame doesn’t have any tangible consequences in place for turnovers committed in practice, but for every time Djogo lost the ball — more often than he’d have liked — Brey was in his ear about it.

Brey’s message continues into both the locker room and the team lounge. There, posters of Brey hang with words of wisdom printed on them. They read, ‘Don’t skip class, and don’t throw the ball away. If you follow those two rules, we’ll get along fine.” As the point guard for the second team in practice, Djogo’s taken better care of the ball, Mooney said.

With just four turnovers in 11 games this year, it’s clear that he’s heeded Brey’s plea.

“We don’t want you to look over to the bench if you take a shot,” Balanis said. “You’re a good shooter and if it’s a shot that you’re taking that you can make, that’s fine. But don’t throw that puppy away, because that thing is gold. Guys learn that pretty quick, and Nik is a quick learner.”

“He’s gonna be successful,” Balanis continued. “His potential is limitless. He continues to work hard, even when he wasn’t getting a lot of minutes, to stay ready. That’s hard for most 18, 19, 20 year olds to understand.”

Djogo knows his chance to play significant minutes is coming, it’s just a matter of when. It may be now, with conference play beginning and Colson out for two months. It may come during the ACC tournament, the NCAA tournament, or even next season.
He’s still a relative unknown, but that may change soon.

“It takes me a while to get comfortable,” Djogo said. “But when I do, there’s some good stuff coming.”

Published on January 5, 2018 at 2:19 pm

Contact Eric: erblack@syr.edu | @esblack34