Charles W. Mentkowski Sports Law Alumnus of the Year Award

ANTE Z. UDOVICIC, ARTS '94, LAW '98

Racine, Wis.

Ante Udovicic’s lifelong love of sports took him from childhood dreams of becoming a professional athlete to work as a tennis coach and then Law School. Now, he’s athletics and activities director at South Milwaukee High School. 

“Seeing kids develop from freshmen into seniors that I can rave about to college coaches is quite phenomenal,” he says.
 
And although Ante didn’t take the typical path of a Marquette lawyer, he credits Marquette for teaching him to push himself.

“People used to ask me all the time if Law School was a waste of time since I am not practicing law, and I always told them absolutely not. Hardly a day goes by where my legal training at Marquette hasn’t helped me in some way,” he says. “Being one of only two editors for the Marquette Sports Law Review for a semester and then one of only three editors for the second semester prepared me well for the chaos of multitasking as an athletics director.”

The multitasking has only increased because of his school’s budget cuts, which led him to take over the Student Senate, among other responsibilities. As adviser to the student government group, he assists with running several community service activities every year, including food and clothing drives and fundraisers for causes as diverse as cancer, autism, hurricane relief, and more. In his free time, he also coaches his son’s third- and fourth-grade basketball team.

“I just try to work as hard as I can at whatever I do,” he says. “If I know that I have given it my best effort and helped people, I feel like I have succeeded.”

Fun facts about Ante:
Hometown: South Milwaukee, Wis.
Favorite quote: “It can take you 10 seconds or 10 years. You decide.”
Someone alive or dead he’d like to have dinner with: Ronald Regan and Dick Schaap
The Marquette faculty members who had an impact on Ante: Dr. Ronald Zupko, Paul Anderson and Professor Hylton
Favorite Marquette memory: Being one of two editors for the Marquette Sports Law Review for one semester and one of three editors for the second semester prepared him well for the chaos of multitasking as an athletic director. He says, “Though it was kind of crazy, it also was pretty memorable.” He was a commuter student as an undergraduate and really enjoyed the time spent with other students in the commuter lounge. “Going to Marquette basketball games was always memorable as well.”
In grade school, Ante wanted to be a professional basketball or baseball player. Most influential person in his life: His mom