Nedim Pajevic

Barry Faulkner

A big man focused on the little things, who relishes his

opportunity to compete, but shakes off pressure and a societal

obsession with winning, Nedim Pajevic is Newport Harbor High’s

paradox in the post.

In a culture of excess and self-promotion, the 6-foot-9 center

prefers kissing layins off glass to rim-rattling dunks and holds

rebounding and defense in higher regard than the SportsCenter

highlights and hype that consume his hoop generation.

Strong, yet soft, appreciative, yet unsatisfied, humble, yet

confident, the Sailor senior has embraced the America to which his

family fled from war-torn Bosnia when he was 9. But he remains leery

of the complacency he sees in those born into the amenities of

affluence.

A late basketball bloomer whom Newport Harbor Coach Larry Hirst

recalls as a scraggly, skinny freshman more rough than ready, Pajevic

has plod from the periphery and into the spotlight of Division I

recruiters from New Mexico, San Jose State, Rider and the University

of San Francisco.

Averaging 15.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game, he has led

Newport Harbor to a share of the Sea View League lead and, with two

regular-season games remaining, a chance to repeat as league

champion.

He amassed a career-high 29 points and 22 rebounds Friday to key a

67-62 overtime league win at Aliso Niguel, after pacing the Tars with

15 points and 12 boards in a 51-44 win at Sea View rival Foothill.

The Daily Pilot Athlete of the week made 18 of 25 field-goal attempts

(64%) and was 7 of 8 from the free-throw line in the two games.

“He has gone above and beyond what we thought he was capable of,”

Hirst said of Pajevic’s senior season, which followed a junior

campaign that produced second-team all-league honors. “We knew he was

a good post defender, who had quite an array of offensive skills. But

I don’t think we’d have ever imagined him having a game with 20

rebounds. I think his progress is a testament to him, to how hard he

worked in the weight room.”

In addition to weight training, Pajevic drilled tirelessly on the

fundamentals, supplementing his already sound footwork, which he

attributes to his childhood passion for soccer.

“I was terrible,” Pajevic said of his basketball beginnings in the

sixth grade. “I would shoot left-handed and I’m a righty. It was

ridiculous.”

Some of his early awkwardness was due to two growth spurts.

“Between fifth and sixth grade, I went from 5-10 to 6-3,” he said.

“By eighth grade, I was 6-6.”

Pajevic credits Newport coaches, particularly assistant Bryan

Cottriel, for helping to construct his foundation of fundamentals. He

has taken it from there, polishing an accurate shooting touch that

includes three-point range, an array of post moves, and the knowledge

of positioning and leverage that help him succeed, often against more

than one defender.

An additional element of Pajevic’s success is poise.

“He has a great athletic demeanor,” Hirst said. He never gets

rattled and I’ve never noticed him to be stressed under pressure.

Minutes before our Foothill game last week, a big game for us at

Foothill, which had beaten a Woodbridge team we had just lost to, he

was in the locker room telling a story about a dancing bear that used

to come into his village (in Sarajevo). That’s just Nedim.”

Pajevic’s perspective comes from his childhood, when the perils of

war pushed the outcome of any game far down his list of priorities.

“Winning is not the most important thing,” he said. “If we lost,

as long as everyone was involved in the game, I’d be happy. I’m

satisfied just to be a team player.”

Hirst said Pajevic’s lack of demonstrative behavior on the court

should not be interpreted as a lack of intensity.

“He’s not the kind of kid who is going to show you his bicep, then

punch you,” Hirst said. “He’s kind of a quiet giant, who is going to

get under your skin by doing the little things.”

Pajevic remains committed to continual improvement and said he

hopes to follow a college career by pursuing professional basketball

in Europe.

“My home is in America, but my love, all my heart and all my

(extended) family are back in Bosnia,” he said.