Inside The Huskies

Husky Happy Meal: Bundalo Picked for McDonald's All-America Game

The UW signee is one of 24 players selected for the annual showcase event now held in New York.
Dan Raley|
Niko Bundalo, a UW signee, will play in the McDonald's All-America Game on April 1.
Niko Bundalo, a UW signee, will play in the McDonald's All-America Game on April 1. | Wildcat Select

Niko Bundalo, the University of Washington's highest-rated basketball recruit, has been chosen as one of 24 players who will take part in the McDonald's All-America Game, which is considered a badge of honor for any recipient.

The 6-foot-10, 205-pound Bundalo will play for the West squad in a game that will be held on April 1 at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Bundalo, considered the nation's 28th best player for 2025 by ESPN, is a Uniontown, Ohio, product who is spending his final high school with Prolific Prep (20-4 overall, 13-0 league) in Napa, California.

He is the 10th player bound for the UW who has a McDonald's invitation, and second in two years, following guard Zoom Diallo, a Tacoma native who likewise spent his final schoolboy season with Prolific Prep.

Bundalo, is a one-time Serbian national team member who will come to Seattle after turning down schools such as Connecticut, Kentucky, Michigan State and Ohio State, among many others. 

"He can shoot, he's skilled, he's tough, he's Serbian," the UW coach said. "He's got an edge to him, which sometimes he needs to tame it down a little bit. But I'd rather tame it down rather than tame it up."

Sprinkle told how Bundalo took recruiting trips to some of those others places and didn't make a connection, so the Huskies went in hard and were successful in gaining his services. Bundalo, the coach says, could be a 7-footer before he's done growing.

"His potential is crazy," Sprinkle said.

For 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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