At age 11, Kyle Zunic made the decision to chase his athletic dreams on the basketball court instead of on the rugby field. This summer Zunic had the opportunity to extend his basketball résumé during the 30th Summer Universiade, staged in Italy.
Summer Universiade is a multi-sport event held every two years, featuring student athletes from around the globe. During the two weeks of play, Zunic suited up as a member of Australia’s Emerging Boomers. Zunic was one of 12 roster players who came from colleges across Australia and the United States to participate with the team.
“It was great representing my country, and it was also not just my country, I was representing Winthrop as well,” Zunic said.
Zunic has been a member of the Winthrop men’s basketball program for two years. According to Winthrop Athletics, he has scored a total of 436 points while playing for Winthrop. While having a sharp shot, Zunic noted that his role this summer did not focus on scoring.
“I started at point guard, so my role was just to get the team organized and make sure everyone knew what plays were going on, making sure that we all were on the same page,” Zunic said.
Throughout his career Zunic has suited up for four Australian teams. With time, he has been exposed to many different sides of basketball, and notes that there are differences between playing in the United States and Australia.
“It’s pretty different. In Australia there’s a lot more moving the ball and playing team basketball,” Zunic said. “Whereas there’s a lot of one-on-one play in America, which I’ve gotten used to now.”
Even with the differences, Zunic still learned a lot throughout the tournament. He thanks his overseas coaches and opponents for showing him new facets of the game that he will be able to add to his skill set.
“It was pretty cool to understand all the different types of percentages coaches go through, and now that a player knows that, it will be good for me to spread that knowledge to others,” Zunic said.
Along with learning more about the statistics of basketball, Zunic also got a taste of what it was like playing with professionals.
“Professionals played against me, and it was just crazy to see how physical they were and how quick they were,” Zunic said.
Zunic noted physicality as something he is looking forward to bringing to Winthrop Coliseum in the upcoming season. “Showing the boys that we can get better physically is a big thing,” Zunic said.
Zunic notes his play in Australia as a major part of his development as a basketball player. He credits the coaches he had in Australia for the strides he has made on the basketball court.
“Australian basketball is amazing to play, and it really helped me with my development to my junior career and to get me where I am today,” Zunic said.
At the conclusion of the Boomers’ play, they received bronze medals, falling to Ukraine in the semi-finals. Despite not winning the gold medal, Zunic was joyous to have received some hardware to bring home.
“I was overcome with joy and it was a crazy experience stepping onto the podium,” Zunic said. “It was a lot of pride for my country and for the coaches that coached, it was an unbelievable experience.”
