Marić moved to the United States in 2012 to attend La Lumiere School in La Porte, Indiana. In 2013, he enrolled at Northern Illinois University and debuted for the Huskies men's basketball. An injury early in his freshman year led to him redshirting the 2013–14 season. He returned in the 2014–15 season and played three full seasons for the Huskies. In 2017, he originally declared for the NBA draft, but withdrew his name before the draft withdrawal deadline. He subsequently left Northern Illinois and joined DePaul as a graduate transfer. In his lone season at DePaul, Maric averaged 13.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He had a season-high 25 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists against St. John's on January 6, 2018.