Last Sunday Lipscomb beat North Alabama 76-65 in the Atlantic Sun tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA tournament. The Bisons had won 20 games each of the past 2 years but won 25 this year to claim the school’s 1st NCAA tourney bid in 7 years. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Lipscomb SR F Jacob Ognacevic about being named conference POY and making the NCAA tourney.
You grew 10” from 8th grade to 12th grade: how did that impact you on the court? Height is a big thing in basketball. I was 6’1” as a FR but shot up to 6’6” as a SO, which obviously helped. I took the next step in my game that year, and after that I got noticed more.
As a freshman at Valpo you played in all 28 games and shot 51.7 3P%: how were you able to make such a smooth transition from high school to college? I practiced my shooting a lot. As a freshman I was a skinny kid so if I wanted to make an impact, I knew that I had to shoot the 3-ball better. There were some struggles during the transition to college, but I hit my stride as the season went on.
Why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose Lipscomb? I arrived at Valpo in August…and 1 week later we got shot down for COVID. I did not have a roommate, so I was all by myself a lot. We had a lot of talent on our team (for example, we beat Drake by 17 PTS that February), but it was just not a good fit for me, so I entered the portal to look elsewhere. I could not take any campus visits during COVID but I did a lot of zoom calls and then committed to Lipscomb.
As a sophomore your 60.7 FG% was #2 in the nation: what is the secret to being a great shooter? Just taking good shots. I take shots that I know I can hit, and I have teammates who get me the ball in the right spots.
You faced several NCAA-tourney-caliber teams this year including Arkansas/Wofford/Kentucky: which of them impressed you the most? Kentucky put it on us and is a very good team: that was when they were all healthy. I am happy that we played Arkansas/Kentucky early on because that will help us this month.
Earlier this month you were named conference POY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It was a cool honor. I wanted to validate it by winning the conference tourney, as that was the main goal, but I am still thankful to have won that award.
Last Sunday you scored 14 PTS in a win over North Alabama to clinch the Atlantic Sun tourney title: what did it mean to you to win a title, and after missing all last year with a knee injury did you think it would even be possible to reach this point? I did think it was possible because we had a lot of guys coming back so we have a very experienced starting 5. To win it on our home floor with my whole family watching in the stands was great. Everyone here is excited, and a lot of people were very emotional after it finally sunk in.
Your aunt ran track at Milwaukee: who is the best athlete in the family? My sister is probably the best athlete: she had a 4.0 GPA and was good at every sport she did in high school.
What are your favorite pro sports teams? I loved Rajon Rondo growing up and had the jerseys of the Celtics’ “Big 3″…but I am a big Bucks/Packers fan now.
What kind of seed do you think you deserve, and what kind of seed do you think you will get? I would guess that we will get a #13 seed, and I have seen that we might play in Denver or Seattle, but we will find out on Sunday.
