Meet the Freshmen: LMU’s Simon Krajcovic
By Josh Horton
At the point guard position, the LMU Lions have some big shoes to fill with Anthony Ireland graduating. Ireland was the heart and soul of the team when he played at LMU, providing the program a consistent passer and scorer.
With Ireland gone, the Lions will look to find a new point guard that can some of the same things the former LMU star did while in Westchester. A possible long-term replacement for Ireland is Simon Krajcovic, a 6-foot-3 point guard from Slovakia.
At Canarias Basketball Academy
Krajcovic played at the acclaimed prep school Canarias Basketball Academy in Spain for three seasons before committing to play collegiate ball in the United States. He joins many other former WCC players to come from the prep school, including former teammate and incoming freshman at LMU Petr Herman, Thomas van der Mars and Volodymyr Gerun.
The Slovakian native played an integral part on the CBA team, and led them to the F4 Championship in Spain this past April.
Canarias Basketball Academy played in the esteemed prep school tournament the National Prep School Invitational this past spring, and Krajcovic posted some solid numbers against some of the top talent in the United States. Krajcovic averaged 13.3 points, 7.3 assists and 2.3 steals during the tournament, including an eye-opening 25 point performance against St. Thomas More.
International Circuit
Krajcovic has played on the Slovak Republic national team since he was 16-years-old, making him a seasoned player on the international level.
He played for his home country at the U18 European Championships in 2012, where he averaged 12.7 points per game, 5.7 rebounds and 7.4 assists and led all competing players assists and steals. Slovakia finished 10th in the tournament with a 5-2 record.
Krajcovic also played for the Slovakia in the 2010-2011 U16 European Championships, where the 6-foot-3 point guard averaged 17.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 3.8 steals in a tournament where his country finished 5-3. His 24 point, six rebound and seven assist performance against Bulgaria was his best performance of the tournament, and possibly one of the best in his young basketball career.
Impact at LMU
Krajcovic is jumping into a program where the point guard spot is wide open, and with Krajcovic’s skill level it could be his for the taking.
The Slovakian floor general can score the ball in a multitude of different ways and has a knack for setting his teammates up for an open bucket. It appears he will be competing with senior Chase Flint for a spot in the starting rotation, and the prospect of Krajcovic beating out Flint is not that far-fetched since the senior is far from proven at that position. It will be interesting to see where Head Coach Mike Dunlap decides to go at the point guard spot, to say the least.
In the coming years, the starting spot at point guard is Krajcovic’s to lose, barring any setbacks.
Based on his international experience and success at the prep school level, Krajcovic projects to be a fun player to watch for years to come in the WCC.