He shot to prominence with dynamic performances for his country at the U19 FIBA World Championship for Men in New Zealand, making the all-tournament team after averaging 17.8 points, 5.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game and helping his side capture bronze.

Prostran later travelled to Metz, France, and had a successful U18 European Championship where he again earned all-tournament honors.

The terrific performances led to his inclusion at the Champion U18 All Star Game in Katowice, which took place during EuroBasket 2009 (watch highlight video here).

He then discovered how fragile success can be.

Prostran returned to club side KK Zadar ready to battle for minutes but in the pre-season, he picked up a knee injury that required an operation.

Surgery was successful, but Prostran probably won't be able to go full steam ahead again until this summer.

Prostran recently switched teams, moving from Zadar to KK Zagreb, a club that has long been a proving ground for young talents.

The Tomas brothers, Ivan and Marko, and Ante Tomic, all played there.

So what is there to know about Toni Prostran? At his introductory press conference, he gave everyone some insight.

"I started to train in basketball 10 years ago, in the second grade," he said.

"The first basketball steps I took were at the Leonardo Bajlo basketball school and I can say that I was fortunate enough to be led by two great coaches at that time, Giorgio Zrilić and Lucian Valčić.

"They helped me with my knowledge and I mostly progressed thanks to them."

Prostran eventually joined KK Zadar and honed his skills in the youth ranks under Roko Giergia and Rudolf Tičina, and he ended up being selected in Croatia's youth teams.

While at Zadar, he made his name as an emerging Croatia national team star.

"We say that this past summer was extremely successful," Prostran said.

"We were third in the world and it was a great success for us.

"Personally, I was included in the top five players in the tournament even though I was a year younger than the others. I was declared the best point guard.

"After only a week, I went with my generation to the (U18) European Championship. Again I entered the all-tournament team as the top scorer (20.9 pts) and leader in assists (7.9).

"That was great incentive to move to the senior team... This transition is always difficult for a young player, but I will try."

Then came the injury.

"I had the surgery which was three months ago by Dr. Smerdelj," Prostran said.

"Now I'm super happy, and I have started to shoot and haven't felt any more pain. The most important thing is that the knee does not go and I hope I will soon be ready to return to the court."

Prostran believes Zagreb is the best situation for him to be in.

"I saw that Zagreb had the great advantage in that they are willing to back up their (young and) talented players, like Tomas, Tomic ... Now they have brought in several talented players with whom I was in the team, and (15-year-old Dario) Saric is the most talented player in Croatia, perhaps in Europe."

Saric, 15, is a 2.4m forward who played for Croatia at the U16 European Championship in Kaunas last year and averaged 11.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists.

"I think that Zagreb is the right environment for young and ambitious players and I'll do the best I can to develop.

"At Zadar, everyone looked mainly at the result and it is understandable that there is no patience for young players.

"I saw that Zagreb is a healthy environment, there are (Damir) Mulaomerović and (Vladimir) Krstic at my position, players whose experience will me very much help. They have played at top European clubs and working with them in training can help me definitely improve a lot faster."

Prostran says people will not see the best of him this year with Zagreb.

"Do not expect too much from this season," he said.

"The only thing I want is for the knee to completely recover, that the injury does not return.

"It will take me time to get back in form and the season is in full swing. Maybe it will go slowly so you will have to be very patient. I do not expect that by the end of the season to have an important role in the team."

Prostran does want to make his mark again on the international stage this summer with Croatia at the U20 European Championship. The extra incentive to make it back for the tournament lies in the fact that the event will be staged in Zadar.

"My goal is to be fully prepared for the European Championship," he said.

"We have a really good generation.

"With a little luck, we could finally win the gold."