On Selection Sunday, Atlantic Sun conference champion and 14th-seeded Lipscomb men’s basketball learned that it would be heading to Milwaukee to try and continue its postseason success.
The entire squad hollered and clapped with their punched ticket sitting in front of them. The announcement was especially important for senior forward Jacob Ognacevic. Not simply because the Bisons would be going to the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in program history, but because The Big Dance would be bringing him back home.
“Throughout the whole week, I kept on hearing we were going to Seattle or Denver, and that Milwaukee would kind of be a long shot,” Ognacevic said. “But as we got closer to Selection Sunday, Milwaukee became more of a possibility and when they announced us, it became reality. I was super excited that we’re coming back.”
Born and raised in Sheboygan — a mere 57 minutes away from Fiserv Forum — he’ll be playing with a lot of hometown faces in the building.
“I’m excited that they’ll be able to see me because there’s a lot of people that haven’t been able to see me in person that will be able to watch which I’m super excited for,” Ognacevic said. “I love my family, I love my friends, and they’re all here, so being able to play in front of them is going to be amazing.”
Ognacevic went to Sheboygan Lutheran High School and dominated the Wisconsin basketball scene. He was the sixth player in state history to reach 2,500 points and one of only three players in state history to have a 1,000-point season. Ognacevic also led his team to two state championships in 2018 and 2019 during his junior and senior seasons.
Funny enough, just two hours before Lipscomb tips off with first round opponent Iowa State on Friday, Lutheran High School will play in the state semifinals. Ognacevic is in a group chat with some of the current Lutheran players so he can closely follow the team.
When Ognacevic left Sheboygan, he played one year at Valparaiso University in Indiana and transferred to Lipscomb in 2021. In his three years with the Bisons, he has made the Atlantic Sun (ASUN) First Team All-Conference Team twice and this year was crowned ASUN Player of the Year.
Ognacevic spent his junior season on the bench with a knee injury which makes this final year all the sweeter.
“There were a lot of tough times and there were times where I wanted to quit and didn’t want to keep going, but I kept on going and for it to pay off like that, winning [the ASUN tournament championship] on our home floor just meant everything,” Ognacevic said.
“If you watch the end of the game, I was crying when I figured out that we actually won and it meant a lot because I’ve been here four years now, I’ve been through a lot of struggles here and to be able to finish it like that meant the world.”
Being home, Ognacevic gets to reunite family and friends. Wednesday night after practice, he spent the evening with his sister and two high school buddies in Milwaukee.
As for the game itself, he was able to wrangle extra tickets for the rest of his family and he said that quite a few people are eager to cheer him on in person. He has an old familiarity with those Sheboygan friends and family and that sense holds true with his Bison teammates.
“We all really like playing with each other,” Ognacevic said. “We got a good group of guys and coach says he tries to recruit good guys, and we want to play with each other as long as we can. So, he tells us to take it one day at a time, one game at a time. That’s what we’re going to keep doing.”
The Bisons are up against three-seed Iowa State — a matchup which historically favors the three-seed 133-23. Even so, members of the team at practice were seen wearing shirts with “Doubt Us” printed across the chest joined with a Lipscomb logo.
The Bisons sure have the momentum for an upset as they’ve won 11 of their last 12 games. With Ognacevic’s home court advantage, who knows what could happen? It’s March.
This story was written by Benjamin Hanson. He can be reached at benjamin.hanson@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @benhansonMU.
