Jesuit High's Andrej Stojakovic representing 916 in McDonald's All-America Game
SACRAMENTO -- In a darkened gym at Jesuit high school, surrounded by a packed house of his contemporaries, Andrej Stojakovic walked to center court.
The 6'7" senior smiled, shook a hand, and took hold of a jersey that means as much to him as it means to the city of Sacramento. He is just the third boys basketball player in the Sacramento area to be named a McDonald's All-American and the first since Woodcreek's Jordan Brown in 2018.
"It hasn't sunk in yet but I'm excited to get out there and represent Sacramento and Greece. Super excited," he says.
As a junior, Stojakovic averaged roughly 25 points and 9 rebounds a game, and after a successful summer on the AAU circuit, became recognized as one of the top players in the 2023 class. He is currently ranked 16th in the nation by 247Sports.
"I think he trusted us a little bit here at the school," head coach Tim Kelly explains. "We have a great school and I think that we put him in a position to showcase everything he's capable of and I'm glad he stuck around for four years."
With the jersey in hand, Stojakovic now represents something beyond his own personal accolades: He carries with him the adulation of a region that has seen its biggest prep basketball stars leave in recent years. With the rise of private basketball academies like Napa's Prolific Prep, the NBA's development league team Overtime Elite or other private schools elsewhere in the state, the drain of top hoops talent from the capital region has been pronounced in the last five years.
"I think it's refreshingly out of the ordinary," longtime Sac Bee reporter Joe Davidson says of Stojakovic staying around. "If you're a really good high school basketball player and you have pro potential, you're going to get tugged towards a prep school in basketball or a powerhouse in Southern California."
He isn't kidding. Whether it's Jordan Brown, the last Sacramento area All-American who transferred from Woodcreek to Prolific Prep, or players like Devin Askew who left the area at a younger age to boost their stock, California's capital city has lost some of its brightest rising stars to other programs, academies or regions that promise better competition or opportunities. Stojakovic is an antidote to that trend, a player that saw normalcy as a benefit instead of a hindrance.
"I wasn't too much of a believer in transferring schools and I wanted to stay here and kind of help put Jesuit on the map as a place known throughout California," he says. "Super proud of what we've done here."
Some of that came with some help.
"I think you just let them be themselves and you have to also at times give them a sense of reality," says Andrej's father, Peja, a Sacramento Kings legend who returned to the area to raise his family.
"Through the kids, you learn how important this city was for me and my family. The second time I came around and I can call this home now. It's been great. This city, this community has been great for our family and we enjoy it here," he said.
It's that very community that Andrej will represent on March 28 in the All-America game. But first, some unfinished business with Jesuit High in the CIF Playoffs. The Marauders take on Capital Christian in the quarterfinals on Friday.
"A big part of it was just try to be a normal student," he continues. "Just another school in Sacramento so doing it here was special."
