The 36-year-old has two decades of experience in the game and a high profile in his homeland, Europe and North America, and possesses numerous contacts in the sport.

It is claimed this will help him fulfil the nation’s objectives.

Antić played a leading role as North Macedonia reached the semi-finals of the 2011 EuroBasket.

They claimed a memorable win over hosts Lithuania in the quarter-finals before losing to eventual winners Spain in the penultimate round and Russia in the third-place play-off.

"The magic moment," Antić said.

"For me, it's the highest point of my career.

"When you come back [to North Macedonia] and see all these happy faces, different religions, different political parties with something that you love, something that you work on to make everyone happy, that’s the biggest goal.

"I hope that now we’ll make it one step further, but we have to take it step by step.

"I'm always optimistic."

The Skopje-born star launched his career with Rabotnički Skopje in the 1999-2000 season and went on to feature for various clubs in Europe.

His star rose so high that Antić, who primarily played the power forward position, even made it to the National Basketball Association (NBA). 

He represented Atlanta Hawks from 2013 to 2015 before returning to Europe for the last few years of his career.

"I hope not to be the only one in the NBA," Antić said.

"There is talent here, but people need to work with that talent. 

"It’s like you have diamonds, but you need the people to make it even more precious.

"Working with the youth is the biggest challenge for us because if you work with the younger generations to make good basketball habits, show them how to grow up... we have to start producing kids. 

"We have good material but no patience. 

"We need to help them rise up."

North Macedonia's run at the 2011 EuroBasket helped basketball become the number one sport in the country. 

However, results since have not been as good for the senior national team and the game's popularity has dipped, leaving it as the "number two of number three sport" in the nation, according to Antić.

"[But] for me, 2011 wasn’t that long ago," he added. 

"Let’s hope we can repeat the happiness and the ranking of the sport - everybody remembers."

North Macedonia will begin its qualifying campaign for the 2021 EuroBasket this summer.