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Imran Suljanovic, a 6-foot-8 forward transfer from St. John's who is a native of Vienna, Austria, signed last month to play for the UNM Lobos next season.

Suljanovic had been recruited by Lobos coach Eric Olen and assistant coach Tom Tankelewicz for a couple of years, even before either were at UNM, but Suljanovic ended up choosing to play his freshman season in college for Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino in New York.

The versatile forward dislocated his knee cap in October before the season began and he never ended up playing a game for the Johnnies.

Suljanovic averaged 22.4 points and 5.6 rebounds in seven games he played in the FIBA U18 EuroBasket tournament in 2024 and has played on the Austrian Senior National team. He did both along with fellow UNM Lobo signee Benjamin Schuch, a 6-9 forward also coming to UNM this summer.

The Journal reached out to Suljanovic recently to ask a few introductory questions. The following are his answers via a text exchange.

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JOURNAL: What about coach Eric Olen's system made you want to play for the UNM Lobos?

SULJANOVIC: Coach Olen and Coach Tank have been recruiting me for quite some time and now I'm finally going to suit up for them. They know my game really well and I think that with their offensive system I can really show my scoring abilities and help the team in a big way.

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JOURNAL: Did you know anything about UNM, the Pit or Albuquerque before this process?

SULJANOVIC: I always knew of the Lobos as the team with one of the best fan bases in the whole country and the Pit is obviously a historic arena.

Also like a lot of other people I knew of Albuquerque because of Breaking Bad.

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JOURNAL: I hear you know "the Manimal" (former NBA player Kenneth Faried). How did you two meet and how has he influenced you, on the court or off?

SULJANOVIC: Me and Kenneth played together in Italy for Pallacanestro Reggiana. He鈥榮 become a close friend since then and one of my mentors. I really look up to him because of the professional manner in which he carries himself on and off the court and the work he puts in and I try to mimic that.

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JOURNAL: What can Lobo fans expect to see on the court when you play? Is there a pro you think you are similar to?

SULJANOVIC: They can expect to see me try to impact the game every time I step on the floor in different ways.

I would compare myself to Franz Wagner because of the way he can shoot the ball at his size and still be able to playmaker and handle the ball.

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JOURNAL: Who wins a one-on-one game right now: You or Omer? And what do you like about his game? (Omer Suljanovic is Imran's brother and plays forward for new Mountain West basketball-only member UC Davis.)

SULJANOVIC: If there is anyone that can beat me in 1s it's him, but I would still like to think that I would beat him.

I like how versatile he is and how many different things he can do on the floor. I think that he is extremely underrated and will have a tremendous sophomore year. I can鈥檛 wait to play him this season.

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JOURNAL: How much yelling takes place in a Rick Pitino practice?

SULJANOVIC: There is definitely some yelling, but not an absurd amount. I think he got softer over the years. :)

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JOURNAL: Do you know what you will study yet at UNM? Do you know yet what you might want to do when playing basketball is over one day?

SULJANOVIC: I haven鈥檛 yet decided what I will study . After I finish my career my goal is to travel as much as possible and enjoy life.

Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) .