How Nordin Kapic’s long hoops journey led him to South Carolina, SEC
Nordin Kapic has worn many titles throughout his time in the United States. Since emigrating from Vienna, Austria in 2021, Kapic has been the under-recruited import, the Division II scoring machine and the role-playing outside shooter on an NCAA Tournament team.
As he gears up for his fourth year of college basketball as one of South Carolina’s six transfer additions, Kapic is worried about playing the one role that truly matters to him: a winner.
“I love to win,” he said. “Everything is better when you win.”
Kapic’s journey has never gone exactly as planned. He moved to the United States hoping to play one season as a senior at Denmark High School in Atlanta and ideally be recruited to a college program. Instead, Kapic was ruled ineligible right before his season was set to begin.
“It was interesting. I came to the U.S., it was always my dream, and I wanted to play the senior year of my high school,” he told The State. “They told me I can’t even practice, nothing. ... I’m here by myself, my family’s back home and I’m 17, 18 years old.”
That wrench in Kapic’s early path led him on a winding road up the ranks of college basketball, and eventually to his senior season as a member of USC’s rebuilt 2025-26 roster.
Division II dominance
Kapic’s high school coach helped connect him with The Skills Factory, a basketball training program and club team based in Atlanta. He was able to finish school online at Denmark while training with TSF during his final semester of high school. Along the way, Kapic was recruited to play Division II basketball at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida by coach Jeff Price.
Kapic (pronounced KAY-pitch) was an “unknown” as a recruit when he first heard about the 6-foot, 8-inch forward doing workouts and playing travel ball in Atlanta, Price told The State.
“We had him come in to visit. Loved his size, loved his character, great kid,” Price said. “I liked what I saw, so we brought him in.”
What Price saw translated on the court almost right away. Kapic led the team with 19.3 points and 10.4 rebounds per game on the way to being named the Sunshine State Conference freshman of the year. But what stands out is how Kapic went about producing those numbers. With just 23 3-pointers in 25 games, Kapic’s game excelled the most in the low-post.
“He was a bully,” Price said. “Just a huge kid. He was 6-8, 240 and just bullied a lot of people in our league.”
Even though his game was producing results at Lynn, Price said Kapic always had aspirations to play at a higher level. While Kapic’s freshman season garnered attention from potential destinations, Price convinced his young wing to stay one more season at Lynn and develop the perimeter skills he’d need to play in Division I.
“I was worried about losing him, so we talked a lot about it. ... He’s always wanted to play at the highest level,” Price said. “I said, ‘Come back for another year, let’s get your game more polished and expanded, and then I’ll do everything I can to help you leave.’ ”
Price said Kapic took to the challenge right away, working on his perimeter shot and feel for the game whenever possible.
“He worked on it so hard, it became natural. Nordin’s one of those kids you can’t get out of the gym,” Price said. “He got a lot of it done as a freshman down low in our league, and probably could have done the same thing his sophomore year. But he wanted to expand his game, and he did that, to his credit.”
Kapic’s new style suited him well. He matched his scoring average from the year before and still brought in 9.2 rebounds per game. But the change was most evident in his shooting numbers: Kapic bumped up his total made 3s to 28 on the season while still finishing with a 50.1% field goal percentage.
After his sophomore season, Kapic got the call-up he’d been waiting on. He signed with UC San Diego for the 2024-25 season. The Tritons had just completed their four-year transition to Division I and were NCAA Tournament-eligible for the first time. Kapic had his path to the next level, and was better prepared to succeed at that level after two years at Lynn.
“[Lynn] gave me the opportunity to play, and kind of build a team around me and be the person who I am,” he said. “I had two years where I learned a lot, I could grow, develop my skills, and that definitely helped.”
Winning on a bigger stage
Kapic’s role completely shifted under head coach Eric Olen while at UCSD, but he made a winning impact with the Tritons. He finished the season averaging 10.7 points and 5.7 rebounds, starting in 33 of 34 games, as the Tritons won 30 games and made the NCAA Tournament in their first eligible season.
He completed the transition to an outside shooter, recording a career-high 176 attempts from beyond the arc. But the transition wasn’t all smooth. Kapic shot 30.7% on 3-pointers — down from 39.6% in two seasons at Lynn. In a conversation with Price, Kapic cited struggles with shooting over players with better length and faster speed to contest shots.
Kapic remains confident despite last year’s lower-than-desired shooting percentage. Dealing with advanced perimeter defense and adjusting his mental game around it only makes him more prepared for his role with the Gamecocks.
“I never had doubt that I’m gonna make the next shot, and you have to learn,” he said. “That was a big factor for me last year, learning when people are closing out like that, you can also drive it, and reading off your defender what the best move is.”
After a successful year at the mid-major level, the final step in Kapic’s ladder up the college basketball ranks appeared: an opportunity to play under Lamont Paris in the SEC.
Ready for the highest level
Kapic said the staff and environment were so impressive at USC that there was “no other choice” for him besides coming to Columbia and playing for the Gamecocks.
“I love the culture here,” he said. “They’re about winning, they want to win and I think I can definitely help them.”
For the USC coaching staff, Kapic’s experience in terms of time played and level of success was precisely what the team needed as it looks to bounce back from a 12-20 season. The staff believes his skill set and feel, which Kapic tirelessly molded since his freshman year at Lynn, fits the mold sought by teams with NCAA Tournament aspirations.
“He’s got a unique skill set. Any time you’re a bigger guy that can make shots, you can put a lot of pressure on defenses,” USC assistant coach Tanner Bronson said. “Nordin’s a guy that, as he’s started to learn more and more about our offense, he’s been really able to create that space. ... He’s really picking up on some of the nuances that can make this offense work for him in a real positive way.”
Kapic wants to bring USC back to success as much as anyone, but he knows plans can change in a flash. For now, he’s taking things one rep at a time.
“I think it starts at practice, trying to win every rep, every possession ... that’s going to translate to the games,” he said. “We definitely want to go back to March Madness and show what we can do. I think this group is really good, and the guys want to win as well. It’s gonna be great.”
