UTEP basketball signs Croatian standout Ivan Perasovic

EL PASO, Texas - Ivan Perasovic (KK Split, Croatia) has signed with the UTEP men’s basketball team, head coach Joe Golding announced Wednesday.

Perasovic has played in the ABA for six years, competing with both Split (2020-22, 2025-26) and Cibona (2022-25). 

A brief profile on Perasovic and a quote from Golding follows below. 

Ivan Perasovic 

Forward

6-8

KK Split

Split, Croatia

PREP

Has spent the past six seasons playing in the first division of the ABA league, suiting up with both KK Split (2020-22, 2025-26) and Cibona (2022-25) in Croatia … appeared in 115 total games in that timeframe, amassing more than 500 points (502) and 250+ rebounds (265) … nailed better than 50 percent of his shots (198-389), including surpassing that figure in three of his past four campaigns … has connected on 34.2 percent (7-23) from distance and 73.9 percent (51-69) at the free-throw line … accounted for 6.5 ppg on 57.1 percent (44-77) shooting in 2025-26 with Split … added 3.1 rpg in addition to 14 assists, eight steals and eight blocks in 15 appearances … spent the prior three campaigns with Cibona, with his scoring average increasing each year … pitched in 3.8 ppg in 2022-23 before upping it to 4.4 ppg in 2023-24 and 5.6 ppg in 2024-25 … in ’24-25, he sank 53.1 percent (60-113) of his tries, including a stout 43..8 percent (21-48) from distance … filled up 80 percent (20-25) at the charity stripe on the year … snagged 2.9 rpg while dishing out a career-most 1.2 apg … committed only 17 turnovers for a robust +2.01 assist-to-turnover ratio … put up 4.4 ppg on 49.4 percent shooting (42-85), including a solid 37.2 percent (16-43) from beyond-the-arc in ’22-23 … nearly half (25 of 56) of his rebounds on the season were at the offensive end … appeared in 18 contests combined in his first two years of the league … represented his country while playing at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup with U17 Croatia in 2018 …  accounted for 7.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg and 2.3 apg in the seven contests … went off for 22 points against Egypt (7/4/18) … flirted with a double-double (eight points, nine rebounds) against Argentina (7/1/18) … posted a double-double (11 points, 12 boards) vs. Montenegro (7/8/18) … his father (Velimir Perasovic) was a member of the silver-medal winning 1992 Croatian Olympic team … teammates included Toni Kukoc and Drazen Petrovic, and the squad faced the USA “Dream Team” in the gold medal match … also won the 1990 FIBA World Cup with Yugoslavia while playing alongside Vlade Divac.

Head coach Joe Golding:

“We're really excited to add Ivan to the team for the 2026-27 season. He's another older, veteran player and he has a lot of experience playing at a high level overseas. His positional size is very enticing, and his ability to shoot the basketball stands out as much as anything. His father is one of the greatest players in the history of Croatian basketball, and we hope that Ivan can continue to write his own story with us at UTEP.”