PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State men's basketball's magical season has led to a No. 18 ranking in the latest AP Poll. It's been done with a team full of new faces. But, one starter has been a key cog of the Kyle Smith era and he's chosen to stay in Pullman for all four years.
It's a rarity in today's college basketball landscape. But, what's even more uncommon is senior forward Andrej Jakimovski's journey to Pullman.
"Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian, they're kind of similar. But, if I speak Macedonian, the people there won't understand me. So, those three languages and then Macedonian, obviously, and then Italian and then English," Jakimovski said while counting the number of languages he can speak. "So, that's six languages."
Jakimovski can hold a conversation across the globe, something he's had to learn to pursue his passion of basketball.
The North Macedonian moved away from his hometown of Kriva Palanka to play in the country's capitol, Skopje, at the start of his teenage years. Two years later, he moved to Italy.
"I mean, I left my country when I was 15 years old. I didn't speak the language. I didn't know anything about Italy," Jakimovski said. "I just left home hoping for a better future and that's how everything started."
It was a venture to chase a dream that would blossom. Jakimovski caught the attention of multiple college programs.
"I had a lot of offers. I think, maybe like 15-20 offers. But, Washington State was the first one reaching out," Jakimovski said.
The first offer meant a lot to Jakimovski, along with the word of one of the all-time greats.
"When I came on an official visit it was Klay Thompson's jersey retirement," Jakimovski said. "He said to me, 'those three years that I had at Washington State are the best years of my life' and I was like, 'oh, this guy is an NBA champion and he's saying the best years that he had was at WSU.'"
The rest is history.
Jakimovski is the longest tenured Coug on this year's historic team. While teammates have left for seemingly greener pastures, "Jaki" has stayed and consistently improved.
This season, he's averaging career highs in points points per game at 10.3, rebound with 5.6 per game and already eclipsed a season-high in assists with 45 and blocks with 12.
"It means a lot to this program, to this coaching staff, and especially to me, you know, being a fourth year guy, and to see those kinds of results. You know, it means that we're doing a good job and I'm happy that I (stuck) with this program for four years," Jakimovski said.
With the Cougs as a lock to make the NCAA Tournament, he'll get to live out a dream he had when his basketball journey started.
"The whole world is watching. Even back home in Macedonia, like they're watching March Madness," Jakimovski said.
And he'll do so representing his two homes, Macedonia and Pullman.
"It means a lot for for the country and for my people who are following me all these years and it's definitely a dream come come true to me," Jakimovski said. "You know, as a senior to to be able to lead the team to March Madness. It will be a perfect."
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