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Danny Sprinkle has finalized the Washington Huskies' roster for the 2026-27 season, signing Rutgers transfer Harun Zrno on Wednesday.
Zrno, a 6-foot-7 guard from Bosnia and Herzegovina, started 15 games for the Scarlet Knights last season and played in 34 overall, averaging 6.4 points and 3.4 rebounds on 35.6 percent from the field and 33.8 percent from three-point range. He scored a season-high 21 in a road loss to Wisconsin, knocking down five threes.
It's a relatively high caliber addition to fill out the roster, as Zrno should be in the mix for starting duties on the wing for the Huskies this season now. The 22-year-old not only has Big Ten experience, but averaged 17.5 points on nearly 44 percent from three for Bosnian professional squad KK Slavija in 2024-25 before coming over to the United States. With Australian signee Tristan Devers, Davidson transfer Parker Friedrichsen, Gonzaga transfer Steele Venters, San Francisco transfer Ryan Beasley all coming in this season to join returners Wesley Yates III and walk-on Brandon Roy Jr., Washington will have a spirited competition for playing time in the backcourt.
That's even before accounting for Texas Tech transfer LeJuan Watts, who is more of a forward but has the ability to initiate the offense as a primary ballhandler.
Zrno should solve a much different problem as essentially a pure spot-up shooter, a role Washington has been trying to fill since head coach Danny Sprinkle arrived on Montlake. Friedrichsen is also a high-profile shooter and forward Nikola Dzepina has shown plenty of offensive range during this summer's FIBA U20 Eurobasket tournament, while the Huskies are also high on big man Mady Traore's potential as an every-level offensive option.
With Zrno in the fold, Washington now also has six international players on the roster. Zrno is Bosnian, Dzepina is Serbian, Traore is French, Devers is Australian, forward Boris Tišma is Croatian, and big Wini Braga is Brazilian. All of them likely arrive on Montlake with some level of expectation about their playing time, while all four transfers profile as players who could crack the rotation as well. Yates was a leader for the Huskies last season, so his rotation spot is secure, and former Rutgers transfer big man Lathan Sommerville was a quality rotation player last season.
Even if you assume that Roy and freshman Lattimore Ford will likely only see action against the early-season non-conference slate and leave sophomore Jasir Rencher - who missed all but 8 games with a heart issue - as a question mark, that's 12 players who Washington could reasonably ask to be rotation players.
That solves another problem the Huskies had last season - health. Washington struggled to field a full team at times last season, especially after guard Desmond Claude stepped away from the team. Traore and Lipscomb transfer Jacob Ognacevic missed all or most of the season and Florida State transfer Christian Nitu did not appear on the bench all year before transferring to McNeese State this offseason.
With more options this year, Sprinkle's squad should at least be able to get through the year in reasonable fashion, am important bar to clear with many thinking that the Huskies head coach should be on the hot seat going into the season.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: How Rutgers transfer Harun Zrno impacts Washington basketball
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Zrno, a 6-foot-7 guard from Bosnia and Herzegovina, started 15 games for the Scarlet Knights last season and played in 34 overall, averaging 6.4 points and 3.4 rebounds on 35.6 percent from the field and 33.8 percent from three-point range. He scored a season-high 21 in a road loss to Wisconsin, knocking down five threes.
It's a relatively high caliber addition to fill out the roster, as Zrno should be in the mix for starting duties on the wing for the Huskies this season now. The 22-year-old not only has Big Ten experience, but averaged 17.5 points on nearly 44 percent from three for Bosnian professional squad KK Slavija in 2024-25 before coming over to the United States. With Australian signee Tristan Devers, Davidson transfer Parker Friedrichsen, Gonzaga transfer Steele Venters, San Francisco transfer Ryan Beasley all coming in this season to join returners Wesley Yates III and walk-on Brandon Roy Jr., Washington will have a spirited competition for playing time in the backcourt.
That's even before accounting for Texas Tech transfer LeJuan Watts, who is more of a forward but has the ability to initiate the offense as a primary ballhandler.
Zrno should solve a much different problem as essentially a pure spot-up shooter, a role Washington has been trying to fill since head coach Danny Sprinkle arrived on Montlake. Friedrichsen is also a high-profile shooter and forward Nikola Dzepina has shown plenty of offensive range during this summer's FIBA U20 Eurobasket tournament, while the Huskies are also high on big man Mady Traore's potential as an every-level offensive option.
With Zrno in the fold, Washington now also has six international players on the roster. Zrno is Bosnian, Dzepina is Serbian, Traore is French, Devers is Australian, forward Boris Tišma is Croatian, and big Wini Braga is Brazilian. All of them likely arrive on Montlake with some level of expectation about their playing time, while all four transfers profile as players who could crack the rotation as well. Yates was a leader for the Huskies last season, so his rotation spot is secure, and former Rutgers transfer big man Lathan Sommerville was a quality rotation player last season.
Even if you assume that Roy and freshman Lattimore Ford will likely only see action against the early-season non-conference slate and leave sophomore Jasir Rencher - who missed all but 8 games with a heart issue - as a question mark, that's 12 players who Washington could reasonably ask to be rotation players.
That solves another problem the Huskies had last season - health. Washington struggled to field a full team at times last season, especially after guard Desmond Claude stepped away from the team. Traore and Lipscomb transfer Jacob Ognacevic missed all or most of the season and Florida State transfer Christian Nitu did not appear on the bench all year before transferring to McNeese State this offseason.
With more options this year, Sprinkle's squad should at least be able to get through the year in reasonable fashion, am important bar to clear with many thinking that the Huskies head coach should be on the hot seat going into the season.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: How Rutgers transfer Harun Zrno impacts Washington basketball
Continue reading...
