The Scout: Radford - Mathieu Grujicic
Breaking down the game for Radford wing Mathieu Grujicic
In the sixth article of the second wrap-around, we take a look at Radford’s newest sophomore international transfer wing, Mathieu Grujicic.
Without further ado, let’s break down the game of Radford’s new wing, Mathieu Grujicic.
Player Bio:
Before coming to Radford, Grujicic spent 1 season in America playing his freshman season at Ohio State. Grujicic spent 3 seasons playing both in the Adidas Next Generation Tournament and in the National Team Competition for Germany at the U16 and U18 levels.
2025-26 (Freshman Season - Ohio State, Germany U18, BWB)
Grujicic appeared in 6 games for the Buckeyes, averaging 1 PPG, 0.8 RPG, and 0.3 APG.
Grujicic played for Germany’s U18 in the offseason before going to Ohio State. Grujicic led the competition in scoring with 24.6 PPG and 2nd in RPG with 8.9.
Grujicic was also selected as an All-Star in the BWB Competition in February 2025
2024-25 (FC Barcelona, U18 FC Barcelona, BWB)
Grujicic appeared in 5 games in both EuroLeague and Liga Endesa for FC Barcelona, with 3 points and 1 rebound.
In the Adidas Next Generation Tournament, Grujicic averaged 14.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, and 2.9 APG while shooting over 40% from beyond the arc, earning Adidas Next Generation ULM Qualifier MVP.
Alongside that MVP, Grujicic won 3 more MVP awards in the NBA Basketball Without Borders Europe Camp, the U18 Spain Domestic Championship, and the Catalon Championships.
2023-24 (U18 FC Barcalona, U16 Germany)
In his first season for U18 FC Barcelona in the Adidas Next Generation, Grujicic averaged 10.3 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 1.3 APG in 20.2 MPG.
In August of 2023, Grujicic played for Germany’s U16 roster, averaging 14.9 PPG, 5.7 RPG and 1.9 APG.
2022-23 (U18 Alba Berlin)
In Grujicic’s first season of professional basketball playing for Alba Berlin, Grujicic averaged 8.3 PPG, 3 RPG, and 1.8 APG.
During his first day of professional action, Grujicic played in two games, scoring 20 points in both games. Those came against U18 Ratiopharm Ulm and U18 Armani Milan.
Film Review:
Volume Scorer:
One of the biggest needs for any team is an elite scorer, someone you can trust night in and night out to give you 13-18 PPG and be a true #1 option. Before Grujicic’s addition, that #1 role was very much in question. However, Grujicic is the definition of a volume scorer; in both of his European National Team competitions, he has averaged 14.9 PPG in U16 and 24.6 PPG in U18, leading Germany both times and leading the entire U18 competition. During the 23-24 Next Generation Ulm Tournament, Grujicic averaged 18.5 PPG, leading FC Barcelona to a 4-0 record and earning MVP honors.
Last season, Radford had two #1 options in Del Jones and Dennis Parker Jr., who combined to lead Radford in scoring in all but 7 games. They were also the only players Radford had who averaged above 12 PPG, and two of the only 3 to average more than 8 PPG, the other being Jaylon Johnson. Before entering the fold in Radford’s class, there wasn’t a really high-usage player who could just get a bucket. They had elite analytical players like Ja’Corey Robinson and Parby Kabamba and solid role players like Zion Walker and Tristan Gross but really lacked someone with elite scoring promise. Grujicic seems to be Radford’s stab at a true #1 scorer in their offense.
Getting to the Line:
If there is one thing that Mathieu Grujicic does at an elite rate, alongside his scoring, it is his ability to add to the score by getting to the free-throw line. During both his EuroBasket U18 performances and 2 seasons of Adidas Next Gen action with FC Barcelona, Grujicic had Free Throw Attempt Rates above 40%, which would place him easily in the Top 70th percentile among D1 players. Grujicic even showcased his ability to get to the free throw line in his limited time at Ohio State, taking 7 free throw attempts on a total of 8 field goal attempts.
Last season, Radford had 4 players in the Top 80th percentile for Free Throw Rate, helping the team finish with a Top 25 Team Free Throw Attempt Rate. One of those 4 players in the Top 80th percentile is really comparable to Mathieu Grujicic and Frederik Erichsen. Before coming to Radford, Erichsen had a Free Throw Rate of 50.2% at OrangeAcademy in Germany’s 3rd Division and 46.6% in Denmark’s 1st Division for Bakken. At Radford, Erichsen saw an increase in Free Throw Rate to 64.2%; while some of that can be attributed to limited playing time, it also shows Zach Chu’s system puts guys who get to the charity stripe onto the charity stripe.
Mistakes:
The biggest fault in Mathieu Grujicic’s abilities is the lack of consistency and making mistakes. Grujicic’s amazing 3-level scoring ability, which allowed him to lead U18 EuroBasket in scoring, is really capped by his inefficiency. Mathieu Grujicic had his best shooting performance during the U18 EuroBasket, in which Grujicic still only shot 44% from the field and 21.3% from beyond the arc. Across all his seasons of professional action, Grujicic had only shot above 40% from the field twice, along with shooting over 33% from 3 twice. Even in Grujicic’s best performances, the inefficiency follows, including going 0-7 from 3 against Sweden and 2-11 against Italy in U18 EuroBasket in 2025.
I do believe the inefficiency issues are just something Radford will need to deal with as the season goes along. The light at the end of the tunnel for Radford is that they needed someone to take the main volume of shots this season. Before the addition of Grujicic, no one on Radford had averaged more than 7 PPG at the D1 level. While Grujicic hasn’t played any substantial amount of D1 basketball, he has proven during his time at U18 FC Barcelona that he can take shots at volume and be a #1 option, just lacking elite-level efficiency. If Radford can get 40% shooting from the field, and 30% shooting from behind the arc from Grujicic, I believe they should be very pleased.
Final Thoughts:
For this player comparison, I think you need to look back at the last coaching staff and one of their marquee transfer additions, Bryan Antoine. Both are players who entered CBB with very high expectations, and when their first spots didn’t work out, they went to Radford University. Alongside that journey comparison, they have very similar efficiency numbers when you compare them to Antoine’s first season at Radford. Bryan Antoine was one of 3 players in Big South history since 2008 to shoot under 40% from 2PT, above 35% from 3, and above 30% from the free throw line between 6’4 and 6’8. The two other players are Reggie Dillard from Presbyterian and Curtis Phillips from Campbell.
I think this addition is just what Radford needed. Radford seemed to take on a lot more lottery-ticket-type players hoping to hit, and this is one I do think they hit on. Grujicic has the ability to be a Big South Player of the Year type player just based on output alone. In their first group of signings, Radford addressed a ton of holes on the team but left two bigger ones open: big man and #1 Option. They filled the big man with Cameron Jackson, and I think Grujicic is their hope for a #1 option. While I think Grujicic could win Big South Player of the Year, I don’t think in the end he does. I still believe we will see him on an All-Big South Team or as an Honorable Mention at season’s end.