UCLA adds Utah guard Lazar Stefanovic from transfer portal
Two weeks after its season ended, the UCLA men’s basketball program is turning its attention to filling out the roster for the 2023-24 season.
Lazar Stefanovic, a 6-foot-7 guard who spent the past two seasons at Utah, announced Saturday via social media that he was transferring to Westwood.
He is a three-star wing ranked 115th nationally in the Rivals transfer portal rankings.
As a sophomore last season, Stefanovic appeared in 32 games (15 starts) and was the Utes’ third-leading scorer at 10.3 points per game while shooting 37.1% from the field — including 35.9% on 3-pointers.
Nearly half of his 307 field goal attempts last season were from beyond the arc.
It was an improvement over Stefanovic’s freshman year, when he started 17 of 30 contests and averaged 7.5 points on 35.6% shooting and 30.5% from long range to earn a spot on the Pac-12 Conference’s all-freshman team.
Stefanovic, who entered the portal March 23, also is an 85.1% shooter from the free-throw line for his career. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
Prior to playing college basketball, he played for the Serbian national team at the FIBA under-19 Basketball World Championships in 2021.
On the UCLA coaching staff is assistant coach Ivo Simovic, a native of Belgrade, Serbia.
Stefanovic’s commitment comes two days after Pac-12 player of the year Jaime Jaquez Jr. announced he would not return to UCLA for his bonus year of eligibility.
In addition, Bruins junior guard and national defensive player of the year Jaylen Clark announced in late March that he was entering the NBA draft. However, Clark could return and retain his eligibility after signing with an NCAA-certified agent.
Clark is expected to need 8 to 10 months to rehabilitate a right Achilles injury suffered before the postseason.
Stefanovic will look to help fill the void left behind by fifth-year senior David Singleton, who exhausted his eligibility.
Singleton was UCLA’s lone true 3-point shooting threat after converting 42.4% last season.
The Bruins are still awaiting decisions from point guard Tyger Campbell, shooting guard Amari Bailey and Pac-12 freshman of the year Adem Bona.
Campbell is eligible to return for a sixth year, while Bona is recovering from a left shoulder injury that forced him to miss two of the Bruins’ NCAA tournament games — including a season-ending 79-76 loss to Gonzaga in the Sweet 16.
Bailey provided a boost in Clark’s absence and averaged 17.3 points over the last six games of the season.
Stefanovic is UCLA’s first transfer pick-up since Myles Johnson transferred from Rutgers in 2021.