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Basketball player Perry Mirkovich is the only University of Lethbridge player drafted by an NBA team. Source: v (May be subject to copyright) |
Yet, no one knows about it.
Perry Mirkovich, who played high school basketball for Winston Churchill in Lethbridge, and college ball at the University of Lethbridge, was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association.
Right now, it is incomprehensible the NBA would even know where the University of Lethbridge is, much less draft one of the Pronghorns.
Yet Perry Mirkovich did it and no one knows about.
I was telling a friend I play basketball with about Mirkovich. My friend is from Lethbridge and he has never heard of him.
That has to change.
The numbers
Perry Mirkovich was born in Calgary, moved to Lethbridge where he played for Winston Churchill High School, and was a six feet, six inch guard from 1975 to 1980 with the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
Perry Mirkovich was born in Calgary, moved to Lethbridge where he played for Winston Churchill High School, and was a six feet, six inch guard from 1975 to 1980 with the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
In the 1975-1976 season, Mirkovich played in 19 games. He made 75 of 162 shots for a 46.3 percent average; made 23 of 32 free throws for a 71.9 percent average; pulled down 99 rebounds; and scored 173 points for a 9.1 points per game average. The Pronghorns finished with a league record of 8-12 and were 9-14 overall.
In the 1976-1977 season, he played in 19 games. He made 140 of 333 shots for a 42 percent average; made 14 of 26 free throws for a 53.8 percent average; pulled down 170 rebounds; and scored 294 points for a 15.5 points per game average. The Pronghorns finished with a league record of 4-16 and were 4-24 overall.
In the 1977-1978 season, Mirkovich played in 20 games. He made 140 of 320 shots for a 43.8 percent average; made 63 of 83 free throws for a 75.9 percent average; pulled down 162 rebounds; and scored 343 points for a 17.1 points per game average. The Pronghorns finished with a league record of 6-14 and were 7-16 overall.
In the 1978-1979 season, he played in 20 games. He made 163 of 368 shots for a 44.3 percent average; made 57 of 81 free throws for a 70.4 percent average; pulled down 156 rebounds; and scored 383 points for a 19.1 points per game average. The Pronghorns finished with a league record of 7-13 and were 10-18 overall.
In the 1979-1980 season, Mirkovich played in 20 games. He made 214 of 437 shots for a 49 percent average; made 69 of 91 free throws for a 75.8 percent average; pulled down 170 rebounds; and scored 497 points for a 24.9 points per game average. The Pronghorns finished with a league record of 8-12 and were 10-14 overall.
He was a Canada West First Team All-Star in 1979-1980 and a Canada West Second Team All-Star in 1976-1977 and 1978-1979. He won back-to-back Canada West scoring titles in the 1978-1979 and 1979-1980 seasons. He also was a CIAU, that is the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union, Second Team All-Canadian in the 1979-1980.
That year, he was named the University of Lethbridge Male Athlete of the Year, and Southern Alberta Male Athlete of the Year as well.
When he graduated, Mirkovich was the Pronghorns’ all-time leading scorer with 1,690 points. He also held the single-game points record with 43 against the University of Victoria Vikings on November 9, 1979, which stood until 2018. He is still second on the all-time scoring list, and third in career rebounds with 757.
Mirkovich also made the 1980 Canadian Olympic Basketball Team, and would have played at the Games in Moscow, if Canada hadn’t decided to boycott the Olympics. During the Olympic qualifications, Mirkovich helped Canada win a silver medal at a qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico.
He was the 10th pick in the sixth round of the 1980 NBA Draft, 125th overall, and would play professionally in France.
In 2021, Mirkovich had his jersey number 24 retired by the University of Lethbridge.
Cheering him on
I remember when Mirkovich was drafted by Portland and there were a lot of people in Southern Alberta pulling for Perry to make the Trail Blazers. I sure was, because I thought that was so cool.
I remember when Mirkovich was drafted by Portland and there were a lot of people in Southern Alberta pulling for Perry to make the Trail Blazers. I sure was, because I thought that was so cool.
Back then, I didn’t have a lot of access to sports news, and there really wasn’t nearly as much available as there is now. My only access would be a daily newspaper, which we could not get on the farm, and the TV news. There were no 24-hour sports channels and no Internet to provide me with real time and up to the minute news.
Then one day, I had the TV on to the Lethbridge CFCN News on Channel 13, and they were talking to Perry Mirkovich. They actually had footage of him playing in an exhibition game wearing a Trail Blazers uniform. It was cool but, even joining the interview part way through, I could tell the dream was over. He didn’t make the team.
Still, even at 10 years old, I thought it was awesome a guy from Lethbridge had been drafted by the NBA.
Parting thoughts
Over time, Perry Mirkovich’s name has popped up around Southern Alberta. He became an educator and even taught in my home town of Coaldale, which is just a few minutes from Lethbridge.
Over time, Perry Mirkovich’s name has popped up around Southern Alberta. He became an educator and even taught in my home town of Coaldale, which is just a few minutes from Lethbridge.
Yet, his name never came up in reference to University of Lethbridge basketball. I was always surprised by that, because I would think one of the greatest marketing and recruitment tools, would be that a home-grown player was drafted by the NBA.
What has been more surprising is how few people know about him, at least that chapter of his life.
It really is a case of recency bias, where everything new is way better than anything old. It happens all the time. One of the best examples for me happened in horse racing. George Wolf is one of the greatest jockeys in the history of the sport. In fact, one of the awards for best jockey is named after him. He is from Cardston, but it took the American movie “Sea Biscuit” to highlight Wolf’s accomplishments. After the movie came out, he was inducted in the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame more than 70 years after his accomplishments – along with a lot of worthy inductees whose careers spanned the previous 15 to 20 years.
The same is true of Perry Mirkovich. He has an amazing story that should be told.
It is nice that, in 2021, the University of Lethbridge finally got around to retiring his number, but what took so long? Forty-one years?
Perry Mirkovich really is an unknown star
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