Soy Savo.

Even in Spanish, "I am Savo" endures.

Predrag Savovic, the former standout for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team, is in Honolulu this month on summer vacation from his professional basketball career in Spain.

"I am very happy being there," he said. "After the NBA, it's the best league in the world. The competition is very good and Spain is a great place to live."

Savovic is a 6-foot-6 shooting guard for Lagun Aro Bilbao.

Savovic left UH after his senior season in 2002 as the school's all-time leader in 3-pointers made, and the fourth-leading scorer in program history.

Surprisingly — and somewhat grudgingly — he is no longer considered a shoot-first player.

"I've always been called a shooter, but I didn't take many shots last year," he said. "It was hard, but I adjusted. On our team, the ball always goes inside first, so all the guards have to pass it inside before you can shoot."

Savovic averaged 6.5 points per game last season as Lagun Aro Bilbao finished with a 13-21 record. He got a late start to the season because he had to sit out 10 weeks with a ruptured calf muscle.

"I've been getting injuries almost every year, that's the frustrating part — I must be getting old," said Savovic, 30. "But once I got on the court, I think I did what I had to do."

His play apparently pleased the coaches because he recently signed a two-year contract to remain with the team.

"We don't get paid like the NBA players, but it's still in the low six-figures (per year)," Savovic said. "It's decent enough to make you want to play as long as you can."

Savovic, who is originally from Serbia and Montenegro, played the 2002-03 season with the NBA's Denver Nuggets before going to Europe.

"The NBA is something I accomplished and I'm fine with what I did there," he said. "But with my age and my injuries, I have no intention of trying for that again."

Savovic played two seasons in Belgium before signing with the Spanish league prior to last season.

"It was a step up," he said. "I feel like I'm playing in the strongest league in Europe right now. There are many former NBA players in the league."

While at UH, Savovic was an all-conference performer in athletics and academics. As proof of his book smarts, he is now nearly fluent in Spanish after living in Bilbao, Spain, for one year.

"We have a lot of free time, so I bought some books and learned the language so that I could speak it," he said.

Savovic now speaks four languages — English, Serbian, French and Spanish.

He graduated from UH in 2002 with a degree in business, and said his original plan to attend law school has been put on hold for now.

"Things change, and I still don't know where my life will take me after basketball," he said. "But Hawai'i will always be my second home and it will always be an option for me to move back here and go for more school here or work here."

By coincidence or not, the Rainbow Warriors have not played in the NCAA Tournament since Savovic left the program. He was the leading scorer as a junior and senior on the last UH teams to play in the NCAA Tournament in 2001 and '02.

"I still follow the team and I cheer for them," he said. "My teammates now can't believe I played in Hawai'i, but it is something I am very proud of."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.