WILMINGTON, N.C. - Busy working out prior to the National Basketball Association’s draft later this month, former UNC Wilmington basketball standout Vladimir Kuljanin continues to sharpen his skills daily in Las Vegas, with plans to play for the Canadian men’s basketball team this summer.

               “I’m in Las Vegas right now training in a NBA pre-draft camp and have a few teams that I will be working out with,” Kuljanin said via e-mail. “I report to the Canadian Olympic Camp on June 19, where we will work out for a few weeks before we hit the road to Athens, Greece, where we’ll have to finish top three in order to qualify for the Olympics. Our team has a great group of guys with a lot of experience even though we are very young.”

            The Canadians will finally get to experience “home-court advantage” when Lebanon (June 30) and New Zealand (July 1-2) travel north for a five-game exhibition series in Toronto and Hamilton. It will be the first time in six years the Canadians have played on their home court.

 Team Canada will then prepare for its last-chance Olympic qualifying tournament in July. The team is searching for its first Olympic berth since finishing seventh at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

               As a senior, Kuljanin became just the seventh player in UNCW school history to grab 600 career rebounds and one of just six players with 1, 000 points and at least 600 rebounds.

            Kuljanin averaged 19.6 minutes, 8.8 points and 5.7 rebounds in 121 appearances. He led the Colonial Athletic Association and ranked second in the NCAA in field goal percentage last season, connecting on 66.7 percent of his attempts.

“My ultimate goal is to play in the NBA,” said Kuljanin, “but if that does not work out, I would like to play in the Spanish first division, the best in Europe and second to the NBA. My agent, Justin Zenick of ASM Sports, has told me that the top European teams are interested in me, so it will be a very exciting summer.”