When Annette McKeough coached Lisa Karcic on the girls varsity basketball team at New Hyde Park Memorial High School, she recalls they spoke whimsically about Karcic playing in the Olympics.
“We would definitely joke around about it,” McKeough said.
Now what was a daydream is a reality as Karcic is competing for the Croatia national team in the 2012 Summer Olympics.
“She’s excited and she can’t wait and she’s nervous about playing USA,” said McKeough, who has kept in touch with Karcic since she graduated high school in 2004.
In her first contest against the USA women’s squad in an exhibition game on Monday, the 6’1” forward scored seven points off the bench and had one steal in 14 minutes of playing time as Croatia lost to the USA 109-55. The Croatian women’s basketball team will face the USA again in its opening game of the Olympics on Saturday.
Karcic’s father is Croatian and she maintains dual citizenship in the U.S. and Croatia.
McKeough also recalled Karcic, who led New Hyde Park Memorial to a state championship in 2003, talking about aspirations to play in the WNBA or in Europe. That too has become a reality. After playing her college career at Villanova University, Karcic started her pro career in Cyprus, played her second year in Finland and her third year in Spain.
McKeough coached her on the varsity squad at New Hyde Park Memorial from seventh grade and remembers her as “a great leader, very personable.”
She also remembers the versatility of player who reached the 1,000-point plateau in her junior year and wound up with more than 1,500 points by the end of her senior season.
“There was nothing she couldn’t do. At six feet, she could be our forward, our point guard or our center. Whatever we needed, she was able to do,” McKeough recalled. “It was pretty unique to have someone 6- feet-1 to be able to do all those things.”
McKeough said Karcic was a big draw, with fans packing the high school gym, wearing T-shirts bearing her name and displaying signs with the nickname they gave her: Special K.
Karcic qualified as an all-state player in two seasons, made all- Long Island twice and all-county three times years. She was Nassau County player of the year in her senior year.
Karcic suffered an asthma attack in middle of the state championship game in 2003 against Our Lady of Lourdes in Poughkeepsie, but still led team in scoring.
Despite her scoring prowess, McKeough said Karcic was an “unselfish” player who consistently raised the level of play of her teammates.
“She could have a lot more points, but when we were creaming teams, she made everybody else look good,” McKeough recalled. “She became a passer and a rebounder.”
Locally in recent years, she Karcic has coached AAU basketball travel teams and also participated in basketball camps coaching young girls, including McKeough’s two daughters.
Karcic’s mother, Roseanne, said she and her husband, Zeljko, are looking forward to watching their daughter in the Olympic games on TV.
“It’s just unbelievable,” she said. “My husband and I are excited. She’s one of the lucky ones.”
They didn’t get tickets to go to London to see her play because she said Croatia’s chances of qualifying for the final Olympics rounds were doubtful.
“It was a long shot,” she said.
She said her husband did see some of her games when he visited his native Croatia last summer, and is particularly proud of Lisa.
“For his home town and his family, it’s very special,” she said.
