Minnesota Timberwolves Name Durisic, Philo, and Chapman to Player Personnel StaffOctober 19, 2005
The Minnesota Timberwolves announced Wednesday that the team has named Zarko Durisic, Pete Philo, and Rex Chapman to its player personnel staff. The trio will report directly to general manager Jim Stack.
“We have added a mix of people that bring in extensive basketball knowledge in regards to this country and overseas,” said Stack. “Each of these men brings a unique perspective and will help to continue to build this team the right way.”
Durisic begins his first season as the team's director of player personnel after serving eight years as the Wolves' director of international scouting. In his new role he will focus on the draft and salary cap issues. A native of Montenegro, Durisic played for the national teams of Yugoslavia at all levels (cadets, juniors and seniors). He came to the United States in 1980 and attended Wichita State University. Durisic was a member of two NCAA tournament qualifiers.
After graduation from Wichita State in 1984, Durisic played professionally for 11 seasons in Slovenia, where his teams won six Slovenian national titles. Following his playing career, Durisic coached in Slovenia. His 1995-96 squad included future NBA players Rasho Nesterovic and Vladimir Stepania.
Pete Philo enters his first season as international scouting coordinator/player personnel for the Timberwolves. His primary role is to scout talent in Europe. Philo served in that same capacity with the Dallas Mavericks for the last two seasons (2003-04 - 2004-05). Philo also serves as director of international scouting for Reebok and the director of Reebok Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy. The Reebok Eurocamp comprises 48 international players ages 17-22. Nine players who have participated in the past two Reebok Eurocamps were selected in the 2005 NBA Draft. Additionally, he organized the Pete Philo Basketball School in four countries: Denmark, Iceland, Lebanon and the United States.
Philo played professionally from 1996 to 2001 in Denmark, Lebanon, Poland, Croatia, Iceland and the United States (IBL's San Diego Stingrays). He played collegiately at Manhattan College and the University of South Alabama.
Rex Chapman enters his first season as a scout for the Wolves, after working in the Phoenix Suns' basketball operations department the last three campaigns. He will scout on all levels for the Wolves including; college, the NBA, and NBA Development League. Chapman spent two years as a college scout before being promoted to director of basketball operations last season.
A 12-year NBA veteran, Chapman played the last four seasons of his career with the Suns and led Phoenix in scoring with 15.9 points per game in 1997-98. Over his career he averaged 14.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in 666 contests. He was the first-ever draft pick of the Charlotte Hornets being taken with the eighth overall selection in the 1988 NBA Draft. At that time, he was the youngest player in NBA history at 20 years old.