Husky Roster Review: Ognacevic Didn't Get Much Of A Shot

Jacob Ognacevic wasn't the most athletic University of Washington basketball player, but he had a skill set the Huskies were sorely counting on.

Unlike most of his teammates, he could shoot the 3-pointer with a high rate of success.

Unfortunately for the Huskies, the Lipscomb transfer was available to them for just a dozen games this past winter once he suffered a foot injury that required surgery, came back and re-injured it and was done.

That left him with just 27 3-point attempts after arriving in Montlake, 13 of which he converted for a team-best 48.1 percent. He should have had triple those shots and makes.

All of the remaining NCAA Tournament teams in the Sweet 16 have two or three or even four guys who can drill it from long distance at a reasonable rate of success, with the 3-pointer becoming a bigger part of the college game more than ever.

What happened to Ognacevic was a real shame. He was needed in Montlake. His outside shot was an absolute necessity for the the UW to become an NCAA Tournament team. It remained holstered for much of the winter.

Injuries crippled the UW basketball team, with Jacob Ognacevic and Mady Traore outfitted in protective boots. | Dave Sizer photo

This is one in a series of articles -- going from 0 to 16 on the Husky basketball roster -- examining what each scholarship and walk-on player did this past winter and whether he lived up to expectations.

Ognacevic was a fundamentally sound basketball player who worked his way through the college ranks, beginning at Valparaiso, to. become the 2025 Atlantic Sun Player of the Year for Lipscomb.

He came to the UW and the Big Ten for a sixth and final season because it was time to see how well he could fare playing almost exclusively at the college game's highest level.

At no time, even as a Wisconsin native, did he think he should have been a Big Ten player any sooner.

"Honestly, no," Ognacevic said before the season began. "I don't think I was ready to be in the Big Ten. I think that's what makes my college career real special. Each year I've taken a big leap. I've gotten better each year. When I started my first year, I was a role player at Valpo."

Jacob Ognacevic and Wesley Yates III share a sideline moment. | Dave Sizer photo

At Lipscomb in 2025, he scored in double figures in 33 of 35 games, with 19 20-point games and five more where he had 30 or more. He averaged 20.3 points and 8 rebounds per outing.

By contrast, he had just two double-figure outings for the Huskies -- 12 points in his first game against Michigan and 10 against Oregon. His UW averages were a paltry 3.1 points and 1.2 rebounds because he couldn't stay healthy.

Against the Ducks, he showed off his stated talent, connecting on 4 of 5 3-three pointers in a 72-57 victory at Alaska Airlines Arena.

A desirable Big Ten transfer portal commodity, he picked the Huskies over Iowa, Minnesota and Penn State.

For the serious-minded Ognacevic, he competed so hard along the way he played a season at Lipscomb while wearing a heavy mask presumably to shield a broken notes and he sat out all of 2024 with a knee injury.

Yet his double foot injury for the Huskies might have been the most disappointing because he couldn't come back and make up for it.