June 22, 2015
By Zach Rhodes
Georgia Tech Athletic Communication & PR Student Assistant
Rising junior Katarina “Kat” Vuckovic is in the middle of a busy summer with daily work outs for the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team and traveling all over the world. In addition to the summer work outs, the 6’3″ Serbia-native has already traveled to the Dominican Republic for a mission trip in May and plans to return home to Serbia before fall classes start up again in August. Vuckovic spoke volumes about how valuable the trip to the Dominican Republic was to her.
“It was amazing, I got to meet new people, even some athletes from Tech that I didn’t know,” Vuckovic said. “We built a house there in two and a half days and then one day we went to a place where they are saving women from the streets, getting the women jobs and teaching them how to work. Interacting with the people from there was a really cool experience.”
Vuckovic has almost doubled her production in points and rebounds from her freshman season (3.5 points, 2.4 rebs) to her sophomore year (6.3 points, 4.7 rebs) as she looks to play an even more substantial role in her upcoming junior season. She is working on developing her game and being more than just a spot up shooter for the Yellow Jackets.
“Right now I’m working on ball handling,” Vuckovic said. “I want to be able to put the ball on the floor and attack, not just be a shooter.”
Not only on the court, but off the court Vuckovic says that she is expected to do more now that she is going to be one of three Tech upperclassmen returning next season.
“There’s definitely more responsibilities and I have to take more of a leadership role,” Vuckovic said.
With a good mix of newcomers, Vuckovic and the Jackets expect to progress even further than this past season.
“We have a lot of new players coming in,” said Vuckovic. “So we definitely expect to make it to the (NCAA) tournament and do better in the ACC tournament.”
Q: What was your favorite part of the trip to the Dominican Republic?
A: Definitely handing the keys of the house to the family we built the house for, it was really emotional, I think everyone teared up a little bit.
Q: What is the biggest difference that you have noticed between Serbia and the United States?
A: I would have to say food. (Worse than Serbian food)
Q: What’s your favorite place you have traveled to?
A: France
Q: What’s your favorite food?
A: Crepes.
Q: Favorite athlete?
A: Novak Djokovic
Q: Favorite thing to do outside of basketball?
A: I like watching TV shows, like Grey’s Anatomy, and hanging out with friends.
