Edi Dželalija


Edi Dželalija is a Croatian professional basketball coach.

Coaching career

First years

Born in Šibenik, Dželalija graduated from the Rijeka Faculty od Kinesiology and the Faculty of Economics. In 1991, he started his professional basketball coaching career with Šibenka, where he worked as an assistant coach to Anđelko Matov. Later, he worked five years as a junior team head coach and five years as assistant coach for Rijeka-based club Triglav Osiguranje.

Svjetlost Brod and Croatia (2003–2006)

In 2003, Dželalija was appointed a head coach for Svjetlost Brod, which he led to the Final Four of the Croatian League.
After he worked as an assistant coach to Neven Spahija at Eurobasket 2003, Dželalija took over the Croatia national under-18 basketball team in 2004, and led it at the 2005 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, winning the eleventh place, and at the 2006 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, winning the tenth place.

Jolly Šibenik (2011–2013)

In 2011, he was appointed a head coach for Jolly Šibenik, a women's club from his hometown. In the first season, the club reached semifinal of the Championship and Dželalija won the Croatian Coach of the Year award in 2012. Later, he led Tajfun Šentjur from Slovenia, Amal Essaouira from Morocco, BC Razmi from Georgia, while from 2018 to 2019, he led the Kuwait national team.

Šibenka (2019–2020)

On 4 November 2019, he was named a head coach for Šibenka. In his debut, he led the club to a 74–81 loss to Zadar.
On 24 June 2020, after the expiration of the contract, Dželalija did not renew it and left the Šibenka bench.

Style of coaching

During his presentation as the new head coach for Šibenka, he emphasized that he wants and prefers fast, modern and, for spectators, attractive basketball. With his ability and experience, he has particularly distinguished himself as the head coach of the Kuwait national team, between 2018 and 2019.
He also worked with the famous Croatian basketball coach, Neven Spahija, as an assistant coach of the senior Croatian men's national team.