Be Seen Prep Profile - Hoosac School

Tuesday, March 9th, 2021

Class AAA of the NEPSAC is the most competitive league in the country featuring programs that have been perennial powerhouses for decades – Brewster Academy, St. Thomas More, NMH, Bridgton, New Hampton, and others.  

A few years ago, when an upstart Hoosac program petitioned to join the league, it raised a lot of eyebrows. 

They had a roster full of unknown names from overseas and appeared to be in over their head. 

Initially, they struggled as expected, but before the season was over they ended up exceeding all expectations and scoring wins over some of those proud programs. 

In the years since, Hoosac has continued to establish itself as a program on the rise in the NEPSAC. Under the direction of Rade Dzamic, along with head coach Almir Sisic, the program has continued to hold its own against the very best. 

What hasn’t changed is their commitment to bringing in international talent and then developing them for the college level as they’ve produced multiple D1, D2, D3 and even NAIA and NJCAA players in the last three years.     

Even this year, with the challenges that the pandemic created for international students, Hoosac still attracted student-athletes from Serbia, France, Portugal, Sweden, Israel, Switzerland, Russia, England, as well as the United States. 

Three players, all of whom returned from last year’s team, are already committed to division I schools. Milos Ilic and Veljko Ilic, twin brothers from Serbia, are headed to Loyola Maryland and Novak Perovic, another Serbian product, signed with Maine in November. 

The Ilic brothers are a physically imposing interior tandem, who are collectively powerful, but also versatility skilled enough to play inside-out. Veljko may be the more physically imposing, and maybe even the most athletic with good shoulders, a developed upper-body, good hands, the ability to change ends, and make compactly released spot-up threes. Milos though plays with a reckless abandon inside that makes him especially tough. He too has soft hands and good face-up touch, but he matches that with a combination of bounce and power that makes him a very tough cover on the inside. 

Perovic is one of the most versatile and smart players on the team. He had a variety of early mid-major offers before deciding on Maine. He plays four different positions for Hoosac and should be similarly multi-positional at the next level. At 6-foot-8 he is a very heady passer and unselfish player who has value on both ends of the floor.  

Aymeric Toussaint is the best unsigned prospect on the roster. A 6-foot-9 forward from Russia, he is athletic and mobile with a ton of untapped potential and mismatch ability on both ends of the floor. 

Nikola Milojevic is the team’s top shooter. In fact, he’s knocking down over 50% of his attempts from beyond the three-point line this year. He comes from good stock (his dad was previously the MVP of the EuroLeague and is now a prominent coach) and is as competitive as he is skilled. 

With so much size and versatility across the frontline, the job of running the show goes to Rhode Island native Sebastian Thomas, who has made great strides since his arrival. The southpaw playmaker has put up big numbers during games and continued to develop his game across the board. 

Zach Smith, a post-grad from Florida, is another playmaker in the backcourt. The big combo-guard has a well-rounded two-way game. He can attack off the bounce, make open shots, and lock up on the defensive end. 

While those seven players form the primary unit for this year’s Hoosac team, the supporting cast has prospects that should intrigue a variety of division II and small college suitors. 

Along the frontline, Alexander Stahl is a 6-foot-7 forward from Sweden who is strong, athletic, and able to finish powerfully above the rim with both hands. Artyom Ryzhenkin is a skilled perimeter forward from Russia with an intriguing upside. 

On the wing, Cotto Alexander is a powerful newcomer who recently arrived from France and is already making contributions with his frame and unselfishness. 

In the backcourt, Fabio Diaz provides a valuable floor-spacer and shot-maker around the rim while Jack Hampshire is a high-motored utility guard who plays extremely hard, gets downhill, and works defensively. 

In total, this is a group that has continued to raise the bar and in a year that was more challenging for international students than any in recent memory, that is a huge accomplishment in and of itself. They already have multiple D1 signees, more on the way, with more available players for all other levels of college basketball.