Redoing the roster, the University of Washington basketball team has been busy this offseason bringing in new players from overseas.
Yet in the case of Nikola Dzepina, one of just five scholarship returnees, the Huskies sent him back home to Europe in pursuit of glory.
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The 6-foot-10 Dzepina will play for the Serbian national team in the FIBA U20 Eurobasket in Ljubljana, Slovenia, beginning with an opening game against Poland on Saturda. Tipoff is at 9 a.m. PT.
After joining the Huskies at midseason, the now sophomore forward from Belgrade played in 14 games for Danny Sprinkle’s team, all as a reserve. He averaged just 2.6 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.
However, Sprinkle is hoping Dzepina will take a big step forward his second time around the Big Ten and be much more of a UW contributor following all of the team turnover.
Dzepina will play three games in as many days in Slovenia to get the tournament started, facing Lithuania on Sunday and Latvia on Monday.
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He’s competed on the international basketball circuit before, joining Serbia a year ago for the FIBA U19 World Cup in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Former Husky teammates and fellow freshmen Hannes Steinbach and JJ Mandaquit likewise played in the same event, for Germany and the United States, respectively.
Niko Dzepina shows textbook shooting form against USC. | Dave Sizer photo
Steinbach, of course, became a one-and-done player for the UW before getting drafted 14th overall by the Charlotte Hornets. Mandaquit entered the transfer portal and was picked up by Arizona.
Over seven World Cup games, Dzepina shot 52.3 percent while averaging 16.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2 assists an outing, which included a 26-point, 7-rebound showing against the Dominican Republic
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Once in Seattle, Dzepina made his college basketball debut against Southern Utah on December 13, hit his first shot from 3-point range and scored 5 points in a 105-69 victory.
Nine days later, he had a season-high 7 points and 8 rebounds in an 86-56 win over San Diego.
After settling into the bench and playing just six minutes per game over his first nine appearances, Dzepina pulled 25 and 26 minutes against Wisconsin and USC, respectively, late in the season. He was pressed into service because of a flurry of team injuries.
Sprinkle is counting on the Serbian to become much more comfortable and take on an expanded role, especially as a 3-point shooter, which is his forte. He connected on just 25 percent on 9-for-36 shooting from behind the line.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/washington as Huskies’ Dzepina Returns To Europe For Tourney Play.
