The Zafirovski family has a Wikipedia page that takes longer to read than most college basketball profiles. Mike Zafirovski — Todd's father — was born November 14, 1953 in Skopje, in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (now the capital of North Macedonia). In 1969, when Mike was 16, the Zafirovski family immigrated to the United States. They arrived in Cleveland, Ohio with $1,500 to their name, and they spoke no English. Two years later, Mike entered Edinboro University of Pennsylvania on a swimming scholarship. He captained both the soccer and swim teams there. He went on to spend 25 years at General Electric under Jack Welch's leadership-development program, served as CEO of five GE businesses, became President and COO of Motorola, and finally took the corner office as CEO of Nortel Networks from 2005 to 2009. He was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2004, the Medal of Honor from the President of Macedonia in 2013, served on Boeing's board from 2004 to 2020, and was appointed by President George W. Bush to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. He sits today on the Coach K Leadership & Ethics Center advisory board at Duke. By any reasonable accounting, Mike Zafirovski is one of the most accomplished Macedonian-American business executives in modern history.
Todd Alexander Zafirovski was born into that family on June 2, 1990 in Edina, Minnesota — the third of three sons. His mother Robin had been married to Mike for 39 years (and counting). The family eventually settled in Lake Forest, Illinois, an affluent suburb on Chicago's North Shore, after Mike's career took him from GE to Motorola. Lake Forest is the kind of town where the local diner — the Deer Path Inn — is where executives have 7 a.m. breakfasts about which Fortune 500 board to join next.
Todd attended Lake Forest Academy, the small private prep school in town. He played varsity basketball for four years there and grew into a 6'9", 245-pound forward. As a sophomore he averaged 16 points and 7 rebounds. As a junior, 13 and 7. As a senior, 11 and 8. He was named first-team all-conference as a senior, second-team all-conference as a junior and sophomore, and was selected to the 2007 St. George Invitational All-Tournament Team. Lake Forest Academy compiled a 31-1 league record across his career and won three conference titles. The team also claimed titles at the 2008 WRA Invite, 2007 Midwest Prep Classic, and 2006 Boys Club of New York Holiday Tournament.
Across town in Lake Forest's public school, Matt Vogrich was doing similar work. The two became childhood friends and frequent pickup-game opponents. Because Vogrich went to public Lake Forest High School and Zafirovski went to private Lake Forest Academy, the two schools rarely played — but they would lobby their high school coaches to schedule games anyway. Vogrich went on to play at Michigan. Years later, when their teams met at Cameron Indoor Stadium for ACC/Big Ten Challenge games, Vogrich would text Todd before tip-off: "I just want to let you know, I'm still 2-0 against you." Vogrich said before one game: "He's one of my best friends. It'll be cool. Before the game, I'll say hi to him, maybe give him a hug or a handshake and then we want to beat (them) so I won't talk to him."
Todd had no Division I scholarship offers. He had something better: the family pedigree, the academic credentials, and a father whose name was on the Coach K Leadership & Ethics Center letterhead. He arrived at Duke in fall 2009 as a redshirt walk-on, jersey No. 52.