Bosnian Player's Big Ten Background Is Plus for Huskies

Harun Zrno is an international basketball player.

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He has 34 games of Big Ten experience, including 15 starts, for Rutgers.

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On Monday, the University of Washington officially introduced the 6-foot-7 Bosnian player as a portal transfer guard bound for Montlake, this coming five days after the news initially was revealed by the scouting services.

Time to check in.

Zrno stands to be the last addition to Danny Sprinkle's 15-player remade roster for the coming season.

“Having Big Ten experience and making the typical freshman to sophomore year jump will help Harun have a great year for us,” Sprinkle said. “He fits around a lot of different lineups because of his offensive versatility and shooting.”

Counting Zrno, the Huskies now have six players with international backgrounds, including 6-foot-9 Brazilian center Wini Braga-Silva, 6-foot-4 Australian guard Tristan Devers, 6-foot-9 forward Croatian Boris Tisma, 6-foot-11 French center Mady Traore and 6-foot-10 Serbian forward Nikola Dzepina.

Harun Zrno (13) goes to the basket against the Nebraska Cornhuskers for Rutgers. He's a Husky now. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Playing 19 minutes a game for Rutgers, Zrno averaged 6.5 points and shot 35.6 percent from the floor and 33.8 percent from 3-point range.

He even started a Scarlet Knights home game against the Huskies, but it wasn't one of his better outings. In late February in Piscataway, New Jersey, he played 16 minutes but missed all three shots he took, including a pair of 3-pointers, in a 79-72 loss to Sprinkle's team.

Besides the mismatch potential in size, Zrno brings that season of Big Ten experience, good or bad, and that can't be minimized.

A lot of international players need a full year to acclimate to the bruising play of American basketball.

Rutgers guard Harun Zrno (13) runs the fast break against Michigan State. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

“Harun is a tremendous piece to add late, with great size and shooting ability,” Sprinkle said.” He showed his potential with some really good games as a freshman at Rutgers last year, especially his 3-point shooting ability.”

He played his best against some of the upper-tier Big Ten teams, too, scoring a season-high 21 points on 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range at Wisconsin.

Against Michigan State, he provided 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting, including 4 of 8 from behind the line.

He scored 13 points in consecutive games against Purdue and eventual national champion Michigan.

Zrno is one of just four Huskies with Big Ten starting experience, joining 6-foot-4 junior guard Wesley Yates III (49 games), 6-foot-10 junior forward Lathan Sommerville (22) and Traore (4)

He is the second Rutgers player to transfer to the UW in two seasons, following the lead of Sommerville.

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