USC Women’s Basketball Welcomes Sports Performance Coach Nik Popovic
USC women's basketball has added Nik Popovic to its staff to lead the team's sports performance program, head coach Lindsay Gottlieb has announced. With a wealth of experience in basketball, the Australian native has begun his role as sports performance coach for Gottlieb's group of Women of Troy.
"It was really important to me coming here to hire a strength and conditioning coach that was really dynamic — that was more like the head of a human performance department," Gottlieb said of Popovic. "He really knows basketball. He has a ton of international experience, and I felt that this was our guy to really improve the experience of our student-athletes both while they're here and for those that want to go pro."
A native of Australia, Popovic comes to Troy from Melbourne, Victoria, where he was High Performance Manager at Melbourne United Basketball Club. He also has spent an extensive amount of time in China working with basketball clubs and camps, and brings in over 10 years additional experience in strength and conditioning in Australia's National Basketball League.
In 2019, Popovic was awarded the prestigious National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Emeritus level for his work at the highest elite level for over 20 years.
A dynamic addition to our staff.
Introducing our new 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙝 - Nik Popovic!#FightOn✌️ pic.twitter.com/ckIBEWh3Wa
— USC Women's Basketball (@USCWBB) April 6, 2022