Inside The Huskies

Here's When And How Huskies' Serbian Newcomer Will Fit In

UW coach Danny Sprinkle broke down the game of Nikoa Dzepina, who will arrive in December.
Dan Raley|
Nikola Dzepina goes to the basket in the U19 World Cup for Serbia.
Nikola Dzepina goes to the basket in the U19 World Cup for Serbia. | FIBA

Alaska Airlines Arena continues to resemble the SeaTac Airport international terminal more and more, with the Huskies putting together a team that consists of a German big man, a Romanian big man by way of Canada, a French big man out for the season and a Serbian big man on the way.

Have your passports and boarding passes ready.

Able to speak about his most recent player acquisition for the first time, UW coach Danny Sprinkle on Wednesday described 6-foot-10, 235-pound Serb Nikola Dzepina as a highly skilled offensive player who does it all.

"He really fits our bigs, too, because he's different," Sprinkle said. "He's 6-10. He's very, very skilled offensively. He can shoot the ball. He can really pass. He can score the ball one-on-one."

With assistant coach Andy Hill attending the U19 World Cup in Switzerland to keep tabs on UW players Hannes Steinbach form Germany and JJ Mandaquit on the United States team, he presumably spotted Dzepina and filed that information away.

By the time the Huskies signed the Serb, Dzepina was no secret to those in the market for a big man.

"You name it, they were recruiting him -- the best teams in the country that needed a big guy," Sprinkle said. "We were very fortunate."

A season-ending foot injury suffered by 6-foot-11 Mady Traore, the Huskies' Frenchman, prompted the singing and created the roster spot that enabled Sprinkle's staff to add another player late with their 15th and final scholarship open.

Dzepina is expected to arrive in Seattle on December 10th or 11th, which will be nine games into the season.

The Huskies had a similar situation last season when they added 6-foot-8 French forward Dominique Diomande, who arrived in mid-January, didn't appear in any games and transferred to BYU following the season.

With Dzepina arriving a month earlier, he should be able to get brought up to speed on the Husky offensive and defensive sets and get on the floor for Big Ten outings. He also should be more comfortable than Dimonade was in a new country with all new teammates.

Nikola Dzepina played in the U19 World Cup against Hannes Steinbach.
Nikola Dzepina played in the U19 World Cup against Hannes Steinbach. | FIBA

"He knows Hannes," Sprinkle said. "There was a connection there."

Dzepina went head to head against Steinbach in the U19 World Cup, with the two often guarding each other, though it was a game the Serbian player probably hopes won't come up in conversation.

In a 92-83 German victory, Steinbach had the definite upper hand with a 36-point, 19-rebound outing while his future teammate was limited to 7 points and a rebound.

He'll likely be a whole lot better with the 6-foot-10 German on his side.

"He fit exactly what we were looking for and we fit what he was looking for from a stylistic standpoint," Sprinkle said. "The success me and my staff have had with European players, whether it was at Montana State, Utah State or here, that helped us.

"Now we hope he's a great player for us. "

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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