Low on Players, UW Will Need Dzepina to Pull Minutes

When the University of Washington basketball team takes the floor on Saturday at Maryland, according to the Big Ten availability list, the Huskies will have eight scholarship players available, six ruled out and one questionable.

Which means even walk-on guard BJ Roy better be ready to play in a Big Ten matchup that begins at noon PST.

The UW has listed 6-foot-11 center Franck Kepnang, who hasn't been able to practice for two weeks with a sore leg, as the player in question.

If he's unable to play, expect to see lots of 6-foot-10, 205-pound freshman Niko Dzepina, the Serbian who joined Danny Sprinkle's team after the season began in December.

While he's got possibilities, especially as a shooter, Dzepina from Belgrade is going through a rather rough introduction to college basketball.

Niko Dzepina, right, shares the UW bench with Bryson Tucker and BJ Roy. | Dave Sizer photo

He's found out rather quickly the Big Ten is a lot more of shock to his system than, say, the U19 FIBA World Cup, which he played in last summer.

A little on the slender side, Dzepina needs a full year in the weight room to be of great use for the Huskies (13-13 overall, 5-10 Big Ten).

"He's got a chance to be a really, really good player," Sprinkle said this past week.

In today's very transient college basketball landscape, the question is will he be patient enough to fill out and be a big producer at the UW?

Niko Dzepina takes aim at a foul shot against Minnesota. | Dave Sizer photo

While he shows textbook form and hit his first 3-pointer as a UW player, Dzepina has connected on just 6 of 21 shots, including 3 of 16 from behind the line. His current averages: 2.1 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.

Clearly, it's a matter of finding a comfort zone at a higher level of basketball before his shots will begin to drop at an acceptable rate.

The Huskies had a player similar to him last season in 6-foot-7 power forward Dominique Diomande, who joined them at midseason from France and never played.

He wasn't ready either. Sprinkle didn't rush him. The Paris product didn't stick around.

He transferred to BYU for this season where, according to a source, the Big 12 team made him a better money offer than the UW, so he left.

Diomande has appeared in 17 games for the 19-7 Cougars so far and averages 1.8 points and 0.9 rebounds an outing. He still might turn out to be a player of greater note.

Yet he and Dzepina need time and patience to fit into the American game.

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