NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Jacob Ognacevic came to Lipscomb to win a championship and play in the NCAA Tournament. He stayed for this year to have one more chance to get it done.
"I would love to see it for him because he did have options, and he decided to stick with us,” Lipscomb Head Coach Lennie Acuff said. “And I think we were loyal to him last year, too."
Ognacevic is the leading scorer and third-leading rebounder in the ASUN this season, showing the promise that made him the conference’s preseason player of the year.
He held the preseason accolade a year ago, as well. But he never got the chance to live up to the hype.
"Last year was a very interesting year,” Ognacevic said. “I didn't think I wouldn't be playing any games at all."
But that’s exactly what happened when Ognacevic suffered a preseason bone bruise in his knee. The injury kept him out of the season-opening road trip, and he was slow to heal.
Every time he returned to practice to test out his progress, he struggled to move and play anywhere up to his standards. After missing the first two months of the season, Ognacevic made the difficult decision, along with the Lipscomb staff, to take a medical redshirt.
"It was particularly hard knowing you've already got a good team without him,” Acuff said. “We won 20 games and finished second in the league without him. You'd like to think what it would've looked like if we had him."
Even harder was the uncertainty about Ognacevic’s future. With a clean bill of health after the season, there was the potentially alluring promise of big money and a bigger spotlight if he chose to enter the transfer portal and explore his options.
Just about every Power Five program would be interested in a 6’8, 225-pound forward with the ability to score inside and from the perimeter. But the Wisconsin native had found a home at Lipscomb and never wavered about where his heart was.
"If I would've left last year, I was injured the whole year,” Ognacevic said. “That wouldn't have been the right thing to do. I didn't want to do that at all. And like I said, the coaches stuck with me, teammates stuck with me, so that meant a lot to me, too. So I wasn't just going to bail on them."
A few days after the season ended, Ognacevic told coaches and teammates he would be back for this season and immediately began to work out in preparation for the year. Once again healthy, he’s proven why many believe he’s one of the nation’s best players.
Ognacevic has carried Lipscomb to a 19-9 record so far this year, averaging 20 points and eight rebounds per game. The Bisons currently sit 11-4 in the ASUN, one game back of first-place North Alabama, which the Bisons will host at Allen Arena Thursday night.
"His numbers in the league are like 63 percent from two, 50 from there,e and 90 from the free throw line,” Acuff marveled. “He's one of the top five efficiency players in the country."
Ognacevic is back to doing what he loves to do at the school he’s loved to call home. It’s not often you get a second chance to do something you set out to accomplish, and he is determined to make the most of his.
As Lipscomb heads into the final week of the regular season and March right around the corner, Ognacevic hopes to finally cut down the nets as a champion at Lipscomb.
"I have no regrets coming back,” Ognacevic said. “I'm happy that I'm back here. This year's been great so far. I just want to win the championship. That's the main goal. Get to March Madness and experience that with everyone in our program. That would be so cool. So cool for our school, too. We've only been there one time, so if we can get there a second time, that would be awesome."
If you have more information about this story, please email me at Steve.Layman@newschannel5.com.
