Inside The Huskies

Huskies Add Atlantic Sun Player of the Year to Basketball Roster

Jacob Ognacevic is a Wisconsin native who has played for Valparaiso and Lipscomb.
Dan Raley|
Lipscomb forward Jacob Ognacevic (41) is shown during an NCAA Tournament workout.
Lipscomb forward Jacob Ognacevic (41) is shown during an NCAA Tournament workout. | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

A year ago, the University of Washington basketball program headed up by new coach Danny Sprinkle unearthed players in the transfer portal from the roundball meccas of North Dakota, Rhode Island, Oakland, Butler and Tours, France.

Lately, the Husky talent has been coming from places such as Wurzberg, Germany, East Tennessee State and Lipscomb -- with 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward Jacob Ognacevic from the latter on Sunday making it known he is on his way to Montlake, according to On3.

The big question before and now is can any of them play at a successful level in the Big Ten?

The answer this past season was a resounding no -- with Sprinkle's Huskies (13-18 overall, 4-16 Big Ten) finishing dead last in the conference.

Ognacevic has notable basketball credentials, emerging as the Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year this past season after leading his team from Nasheville, Tennessee, to a 25-10 record and into the NCAA Tournament.

Lipscomb forward Jacob Ognacevic (41) is shown against Louisville in 2022.
Lipscomb forward Jacob Ognacevic (41) is shown against Louisville in 2022. | Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

He averaged 20 points and 8 rebounds per game while shooting 57.5 percent overall and 40.2 percent from 3-point range. Decent numbers, for sure.

Yet can he do it against Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin?

After all, he came out of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in the middle of Big Ten country, and the conference passed on him back then, sending him to Valparaiso, where he spent a season before transferring down to Lipscomb.

If only his nickname was Big Daddy Lipscomb. Google it.

As for high-level competition, Ognacevic played against three ranked teams this past season and he had seemed to fare OK individually while his team was beaten soundly each time.

In a 76-60 loss to Arkansas, he came up with 16 points and 6 rebounds.

In losing to Kenutcky 97-68, he had 17 points and 8 boards.

And in the NCAAs, he supplied 18 points and 2 rebounds in an 82-55 defeat to Iowa State in Milwaukee.

Ognacevic also has dealt with a knee injury that forced him to miss all of the 2023-24 season at Lipscomb and a broken nose that forced him to wear a protective mask the season before at the same place.

For now, he is the fourth new UW player since the season ended, joining 6-foot-10 former Rutgers forward Lathan Sommerville, 6-foot-1 ex- East Tennessee State guard Quirmari Peterson and 6-foot-10 Hannes Steinbach, the German-produced teenaged recruit.

Peterson likewise was the Southern Conference Player of the Year, giving the Huskies two such players with Ognacevic to receive a top league accolade.

To get the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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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