Welcome to the third part in our preview of every Husky scholarship player this season. If you missed them you can find part one (primary ball handlers) and part two (other guards/wings) right there at those links. Let’s keep going with our players who might see time at the power forward spot this season.
F/C 6’11 Hannes Steinbach; 4-star, #68 Overall (1st year)
It came out of nowhere when Hannes Steinbach committed to Washington back in early April and I’m certain that almost no Husky fan knew who he was at the time. There were folks out there who pay attention to International basketball saying that Steinbach was one of the best prospects in Europe but it was hard to know what to make of someone averaging 7.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in the German Basketball Bundesliga (BBL). It was still encouraging that assistant Andy Hill was able to build a relationship and get him signed before anyone knew Washington was involved.
I quickly did some research on players coming over to the states from the BBL and found there were very few examples. Two of the only ones to do it were the Wagner brothers at Michigan who each became eventual 1st round draft picks and Steinbach was playing more and doing so more productively than either Wagner in the BBL at the same age. That was encouraging. Then Steinbach went supernova in the BBL playoffs and became the best player on a team that made the semifinals playing against first the consensus best center coming to college (who is 2 years older) and then a pair of NBA draft picks. Steinbach averaged 14.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game over that 10-game sample.
Then came the FIBA U19 World Cup. Steinbach finished the event 8th in points per game, 2nd in rebounds per game, and 13th in blocks per game while leading Germany to the final (17.4 pts, 13.0 reb, 1.3 blk). Many observers considered him the best player at the tournament which included a litany of five-star recruits and fellow UW freshman JJ Mandaquit.
Expectations for 2025-26
The sky appears to be the limit for Steinbach. He turned 19 years old in May and so is about one year older than your typical freshman. And yet he just finished dominating every other big in his age group across the world and putting up double-doubles in the BBL playoffs against grown men and 1st round draft picks. It would be a surprise at this point if Steinbach isn’t an immediate above-average starter in the Big Ten and one of the best rebounders in the country. He had 24 point and 16 rebounds in the exhibition against UNLV (who admittedly were missing their several rotation bigs) for his first performance in a Husky uniform. CBS Sports has Steinbach as their preseason #96 player in the country (one of only 15 freshmen on their top 101 list) and we may look back and say that was too pessimistic.
Coach Sprinkle has noted that he thinks Steinbach is more suited to be a power forward than a true center. He has great coordination but not the top shelf athleticism to be a consistent shot blocker. Although Steinbach is still capable of a ferocious transition dunk you might not be expecting. There’s a good chance that playing Steinbach at center unlocks an outstanding offense and Steinbach’s elite defensive rebounding makes the defense good enough to make up for his other limitations on that side of the court. While Steinbach doesn’t project as an elite shooter, he should shoot 30-35%+ on 1-2 attempts per game to allow for a 5-out offense when playing center and some floor spacing when at power forward. Oh yeah, and he’s also an above average passer for someone his size.
I’m all in on Steinbach and voted for him as my B1G Freshman of the Year. There’s a chance Steinbach is one and done to the NBA but if he comes back to college for a second year then he has true All-American (All-German?) potential.
2025-26 Projected Per Game Stats: 29.1 mins, 11.8 pts, 8.2 reb, 1.2 ast, 1.5 to, 1.1 stl, 0.7 blk, 53.6% 2pt, 32.7% 3pt, 66.0% FT
*****
F 6’8 Jacob Ognacevic (5th year); Transfer from Lipscomb
2024-25 Stats (per game): 20.0 pts, 8.0 reb, 1.4 ast, 0.4 blk, 63.7% 2pt, 41.2% 3pt, 80.9% FT
Background
Ognacevic was an unrated recruit coming out of Racine, Wisconsin in the class of 2020. He signed with Valparaiso but got no attention from any major schools. As a true freshman he came off the bench and immediately flashed his offensive skill shooting 51.7% from 3-point range and averaging 6.3 points in just 12.9 minutes per game. Following that start to his career, Ognacevic entered the transfer portal and wound up signing with Lipscomb.
Since that time, Ognacevic has been one of the best mid-major offensive players in the country. A knee injury kept him out the entire 2023-24 season but Ognacevic finished in the top-15 nationally in true shooting percentage each of the past two years in which he played. That culminated in last year’s success when Lipscomb earned a 14-seed in the NCAA tournament led by Ognacevic’s 20 points per game. Ognacevic was rewarded for his efforts with an Atlantic Sun PotY award and entered the transfer portal to end up at Washington.
Playing Style
There’s no doubt that Ognacevic is one of the most skilled offensive weapons in the country at his size. He was above average from every part of the court. At the rim? 73.0%. On midrange/long 2’s? 53.4%. From behind the arc? 41.2%. At the free throw line? 80.9%. Give Ognacevic the ball from anywhere on the court against a mid-major defender and he’ll put the ball in the basket. The big question is can he keep it up in the Big Ten?
There are mixed opinions on that measure. On the one hand, Ognacevic could shoot about 15% worse (percent not percentage points) from everywhere on the court and still be an above average scorer. He’s got a lot of room to drop and still be effective. Lipscomb finished 89th at KenPom last year (better than Washington) but they only played 3 games against power conference competition. Ognacevic still got his raw numbers scoring 17 ppg with 5.3 rpg but his turnover rate went up about 50% over his season-long numbers and the 3-point percentage dropped to 26.7% while his 2-point numbers held steady.
There are still some concerns about that three-point shot even if he’s at 40.8% for his career. As a junior, Ognacevic shot just 31.0% from deep for the season and he has taken fewer than 3 attempts per game over his career. He is definitely capable of stretching the floor but the majority of his work still comes from inside the arc.
It will be an adjustment for Ognacevic to play alongside a center who stays mostly around the rim. Both of Lipscomb’s primary centers last year took at least half of the their shots from beyond the arc so there was plenty of room for Ognacevic to operate in the paint. Once down there, Ognacevic can back his guy down and either spin for a layup or step back and hit an off-balance fadeaway jump shot.
What Ognacevic surely is not going to be is a defensive stopper. He had the highest Offensive BPR per Evan Miya on the Lipscomb roster but the lowest Defensive BPR. That’s not an accident. Iowa State attacked Ognacevic repeatedly during their tournament game against Lipscomb and it seems like a good strategy. Ognacevic will be a little undersized to deal with the average power forward in the Big Ten and is liable to getting blown by if forced to guard someone who prefers to play on the perimeter.
Expectations for 2025-26
It was a major bummer when Coach Sprinkle announced at Big Ten media days that Ognacevic would miss about 3 months with a foot injury. And not just because I had finished writing this section that morning. That timeframe would put Ognacevic back near the start of conference play and missing about half the season. If he comes back on that timeline and is back to himself right away then that’s not a death knell for the year. But still a huge disappointment.
When I looked for comps to Ognacevic over the offseason, I found that using similar players’ stats as a guide would result in Ognacevic scoring 12.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game with Washington. That seems like a reasonable guess provided Ognacevic winds up a starter. But I’m skeptical that will be the case.
I just noted that I think Hannes Steinbach will be the best 4/5 on the roster and Coach Sprinkle said he thinks his best spot is at power forward. You’d love to theoretically put a lineup with Ognacevic at the small forward spot with his shooting but I just don’t think it’s going to hold up on defense. That means there’s a ceiling on Ognacevic’s minutes totals given how much Steinbach will likely deserve to play.
It seems like the ideal pairing would be to link the Ognacevic and Kepnang minutes to provide rim protection help for Ognacevic’s defense and some floor stretching at the 4 spot to create room for Kepnang to dunk at the rim. My guess is those lineups are going to be the best option whenever Steinbach is off the floor and then we’ll see some amount of time with Steinbach at center and Ognacevic at the power forward spot.
Once healthy, Ognacevic provides a rich man’s version of what Wilhelm Breidenbach was the last few years. Someone who is capable of making 65% of his 2-pt shots and 35% of his 3-pt shots on offense but will hurt you on the defensive end. Ognacevic can do that while taking more shots and while rebounding better which is why he’s the rich man’s version but that’s the archetype you’re looking at.
2025-26 Projected Per Game Stats: 15 games, 22.0 mins, 9.5 pts, 4.1 reb, 0.8 ast, 1.0 to, 0.2 stl, 0.2 blk, 56.9% 2pt, 37.3% 3pt, 75.8% FT
*****
F 6’7 Bryson Tucker (2nd year); Transfer from Indiana
2024-25 Stats (per game): 5.4 pts, 2.9 reb, 0.6 ast, 42.1% 2pt, 15.0% 3pt, 72.2% FT
Background
Tucker was an elite recruit coming out of Arlington, Virginia in the class of 2024 as he was rated a 5-star and #21 overall in the 247 Sports composite. He had offers from schools like Illinois, Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, and Villanova and took an official visit to Kansas but ultimately opted to commit to Indiana. He was noted as having a developed frame with elite athleticism and an impeccable midrange game but was still looking to improve his outside jump shot and his handle.
Almost nothing went right for Tucker during his one season at Indiana. That midrange prowess didn’t show up and Tucker wound up missing a lot of long 2’s that brought down his offensive numbers and he struggled even worse shooting from the outside. The Hoosiers started the season with top three in the Big Ten expectations but ultimately missed the NCAA tournament and coach Mike Woodson was fired. Tucker ended up appearing in just 5 of Indiana’s final 14 games and entered the transfer portal to sign with Washington.
Playing Style
The hope for Tucker was that he would be able to score prodigiously right away, particularly from inside the arc. At 6’7, 210 lb with plus athleticism he had the necessary tools. But Tucker ended up taking almost 2/3rd of his shots from outside the paint and shot a combined 24/84 (28.6%) on those shots. That’s just not remotely close to an acceptable number. It could still work if Tucker were taking half his shots in the paint and converting a high percentage but he shot 55.8% on close 2’s which is solid but nothing spectacular.
It’s fair to wonder if part of that was Tucker playing alongside a supersized lineup that clogged the paint with 2 bigs at almost all times. More space to operate would likely have helped Tucker get to the rim more often but the jumper has to get better or else he’ll never be able to ascend to a starting role.
The good news for Tucker is that Coach Sprinkle has spoken glowingly about his ability to score the ball this offseason. That suggests that maybe some of the issues with the jump shot have gotten fixed. But Sprinkle expressed concerns about Tucker’s effort level on the defensive end which doesn’t bode well for heavy playing time.
Evan Miyakawa’s system gave Tucker a higher Defensive BPR than an offensive one but both were 2nd lowest on the Hoosiers roster among the 9 regular rotation players. His block and steal rates are both very underwhelming for a five-star wing who should have had an athletic advantage over most of the players he was going up against. The defensive rebounding was about what you’d want for a 3/4 combo forward and that’s something to potentially build upon.
Expectations for 2025-26
It makes a lot of sense why the Huskies took a chance on Tucker. The player we saw last season was not good enough to be a rotation player in the Big Ten. That much is clear. But Tucker was playing as a true freshman for a coach who got fired because they didn’t seem to understand modern basketball. It wouldn’t be a shock if Tucker just needed the motivation from the lack of success last season to refocus and turn around his career. It’s not unheard of by any stretch. The #1 comp in KenPom’s database to Bryson Tucker’s freshman year? The freshman season of one Keion Brooks Jr. That one worked out all right for Washington (also in the top 5 were eventual NBA players Terrance Mann and Taurean Prince).
There’s also the fact that the Huskies were really missing a player like Tucker’s theoretical skillset. Tucker and Desmond Claude are the only two long-term healthy players on the roster between 6’6 and 6’8 given Jacob Ognacevic’s injury. Having someone that can defend opposing wings at a high level is a role that Tucker seems best suited for if he can put it all together. And with Ognacevic out for several months it opens up ~20 minutes per game of which Tucker is likely in position to pick up 5-10 of them between the 3/4 forward spots.
I’m a little skeptical that Tucker will stay in the rotation once/if Ognacevic is healthy but there’s no question that he’s a major X factor on this team. Tucker being even average on both ends of the court would be a huge boon to provide a puzzle piece that is otherwise just not in the box. It’s not likely but there’s still a chance.
2025-26 Projected Per Game Stats: 20 games, 10.5 mins, 3.6 pts, 1.8 reb, 0.4 ast, 0.6 to, 0.4 stl, 0.1 blk, 41.4% 2pt, 28.6% 3pt, 64.7% FT
*****
F 6’9 Nikola Dzepina (1st year)
Background
Dzepina is from Serbia but most recently has played for the Valencia Basket Club in Spain. He turned 19 years old at the end of July and competed for Serbia in the U19 FIBA World Cup this summer which also featured Husky freshmen JJ Mandaquit (USA) and Hannes Steinbach (Germany). Dzepina led Serbia in scoring and was 13th in the competition with 16.4 points per game to go along with 5.4 rebounds on 34.5% 3-point shooting. Through just 2 games in this early season, Dzepina averaged 13.5 points on 57% 3-point shooting for Valencia’s U22 team.
Expectations for 2025-26
This will be the second straight year that an International player is added to the roster after fall quarter ends as Dzepina is expected to join the team in December. That suggests that his potential debut could come against Seattle U on 12/19 and that he will miss at least the first 11 games of the season.
The scouting report on Dzepina is that he is still a little raw and nowhere near the polished product of Hannes Steinbach even if they put similar scoring numbers in the FIBA World Cup this summer. Dzepina though is a potential stretch 4 which the Huskies will be without until at least January due to the injury to Ognacevic. There’s a chance that Dzepina comes in and plays right away for the first month until Ognacevic is back. We could also see Dzepina serve as the long-term replacement there if Ognacevic takes longer to heal than expected.
I’m going to settle for a bit of the midpoint scenario where Dzepina is able to help provide some depth and big sized shooting for 5-10 games until Ognacevic is back and then fall back out of the rotation from that point. It would be amazing to have him for the entire time Ognacevic will be out but at least there’s the chance he can cover part of that timeframe and provides an extra layer of redundancy.
2025-26 Projected Per Game Stats: 10 games, 6.2 mins, 2.5 pts, 1.3 reb, 0.3 ast, 0.5 to, 0.1 stl, 0.1 blk, 57.1% 2pt, 33.3% 3pt, 71.4% FT
*****
We’ll be back tomorrow to close out our preview series with a look at the potential centers on the Washington roster.