Lobo Basketball Announces Addition of Filip Borovicanin
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The New Mexico men’s basketball program announced Tuesday the addition of Filip Borovicanin, a transfer forward from Arizona. The 6-9, 225-pound native of Belgrade, Serbia will have two years of eligibility with the Lobos after playing the previous two seasons with the Wildcats.
Last season at Arizona, Borovicanin appeared in 20 games off the bench as Arizona won the Pac-12 regular season title and reached the NCAA Sweet 16. He averaged 2.3 points and 1.6 rebounds per game, highlighted by career-highs of 11 points and seven rebounds in the season-opening win over Morgan State. He scored a conference career-high of six points in the Pac-12 opener at California. As a freshman in 2022-23, Borovicanin appeared in 14 games off the bench for Arizona, scoring a season-high four points against Oregon State.
“We are excited to welcome Filip to our basketball program,” said head coach Richard Pitino. “He has the size and skill to make an impact right away. He will be a terrific addition on the court and in the lockerroom.”
Borovicanin spent last summer playing for his native Serbia at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Hungary. He averaged 14.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals over the seven games at the event, including posting double-doubles in three of Serbia’s four contests in bracket play. He had 25 points and 11 rebounds against Korea in the round of 16 before a 13-point, 11-rebound effort against France in the quarterfinals. In the 5th place game, he had 21 points and 14 rebounds against Argentina.
“I loved my time at Arizona, but I was looking for an opportunity to be an impact player on an NCAA Tournament team,” said Borovicanin. “Coach Pitino has built a winning program at New Mexico and the idea of being a big part of that success on the court is very exciting to me. Coach Pitino, Coach Chew and the entire staff made me feel at home on my visit and I’m excited to take the Lobos to two more NCAA Tournaments.”
Borovicanin came to Arizona after playing KK Beko in his hometown of Belgrade. In his final season with the club, he averaged 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists per game while leading his team to the league championship. He was tournament MVP of the European Youth Basketball League U16 CE Tournament, averaging 34.6 points, 18.6 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game.