Maine West's Dugalic ready to finish prep career in style
When Dragovan and Vesna Dugalic came to America from Serbia in 1996, they never dreamed they'd end up with two children playing college basketball.
"We just wanted our kids to grow up good people and have a good childhood," Dragovan said. "We kind of tried to keep them away from too much electronics so we took every opportunity we could to have them outside playing.
"We wanted them to socialize more with kids outside than on social media. It didn't matter where they were - the forest preserve, the backyard - just so they were outside and active, not just sitting around on the computer all day."
Today, his daughter Angela is sitting tall on every talent scout's list in the country.
Maine West's celebrated 6-foot-4 center is ranked as the No. 1 player in the state for the Class of 2020 and No. 8 overall in the nation by Blue Star Basketball.
The four-year starter returns for her senior season having already collected 1,081 points, 718 rebounds, 192 steals, 143 assists, 93 blocks.
Her past three teams are 95-6, including last year's 35-0 Class 4A state championship team.
It's hardly a secret that teams will be lining up their defenses to stop the Oregon University recruit.
And Dugalic relishes that idea.
"It means they'll (opponents) be more aggressive which I don't mind," said Dugalic, whose brother Milos is a 6-foot-8 center for the Illinois Institute of Technology's men's basketball team in Chicago.
"I like people who are very competitive and want to beat us."
No one beat Dugalic and the Warriors in an incredible 2018-2019 season.
But she knows this is a whole new look for the defending Class 4A champs this season.
"I'll hold myself and my team accountable," Dugalic said. "We lost a lot of starters. We have three back but the rest of the girls are new and we have to catch them up to speed.
"We'll have the same mentality as last season. We have to keep working hard and as long as we do, I think we can get as far as we did last year."
And Dugalic will be a big reason again for the Warriors' success, not only with her physical abilities but the intangibles as well.
"She will be a vocal leader," said Maine West coach Kim de Marigny. "Angela will stand up and lead. She will be a coach on the floor.
"She has really developed those skills from her freshman year to now. It's like having another coach on the floor. The girls look up to her. They will follow her lead and she will lead them. She has matured a lot through the years and we are looking forward to good things from her."
Her parents sure have gotten good things from Angela and Milos, who is an engineering major at IIT. Angela is undecided on her major.
"I'm still debating it," she said. "I'm trying to figure out something I'd like to do when I graduate at 21 or 22 years old and will still like doing when I'm 50 with kids."
For now, she is just a kid enjoying basketball, a sport she found after first believing she'd be playing soccer in the future.
"From a young age both of our kids just liked playing any sport," Dragovan said. "It didn't matter which one just so they were outside playing with a ball."
"I used to want to be a Division-I soccer player when I was real young," said Angela, who even played varsity volleyball at West.
"But there weren't a lot of 6-foot-4 girls running around the soccer fields, so I said 'let's just do basketball and stick to that.' "
Her mother actually played team handball in Serbia, an indoor version of soccer played with a smaller ball thrown into the goal. Vesna wore jersey No. 4, the number Angela wears for her AAU team.
Dragovan was involved in martial arts (Judo) and was also a physical education teacher in Serbia and now works for a telecommunications company.
He made sure his children spoke Serbian.
Angela can also read and write the language.
"The reason I wanted them to learn it was because I didn't want to be the translator between the kids and their grandparents," Dragovan said.
Dragovan said watching his daughter develop into the player she has and being role model for younger kids has been the best part of her celebrated career.
"I always keep telling her that no matter what she achieves there is always one more step to go," he added. "I tell her she has to keep work working and practicing."
Which she has done since walking through the doors as a freshman at Maine West.
"Sometimes as a freshman, you want things to go super fast because you just can't wait to experience more," Angela said. "Like when we got to the supersectional my freshman year and lost, I couldn't wait for the next season.
"And then it just pops right up out of nowhere and it was same for my junior season. Now, for my senior year, I want to feel everything and certainly be in the moment. But I know at some point, it's going to come to an end."
Dugalic and the Warriors sure wouldn't mind an ending like last season.