Arizona announced the signings of frontcourt additions Ugnius “Oogie” Jaruševičius and Maksim Brnovic on Friday, weeks after both were added to the Wildcats’ tentative 2026-27 roster.
A center from Lithuania, Jarusevicius transferred from Nebraska to Arizona this spring and has already been working out on the UA campus. Brnovic’s commitment was reported earlier in June, though the forward from Montenegro has not yet arrived in Tucson.
Brnovic, a 6-8 forward who just turned 18 last month, averaged 8.1 points and 3.2 rebounds for Zalgiris II, the U18 branch of the top Lithuanian club based in Kaunas. He made 54.5% of his two-point shots and shot 29.8% from 3-point range, where he took 44% of his field goal attempts.
“He’s got great upside,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. “He’s really skilled and has a lot of perimeter skills. He’s probably the size of a four-man so we’ll have to figure out position-wise what makes the most sense when he gets here. He’s just a great kid who was ready for this challenge.”
Brnovic drew praise while playing five games for Zalgiris II in the Adidas Next Gen tournament last month, averaging 15.4 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 47.6% from 3-point range.
Brnovic “brings multi-positional versatility to the Wildcats’ frontcourt with his ability to handle, pass and shoot,” Draft Express’ Jonathan Givony posted.
Jarusevicius played only one game for Nebraska in 2025-26 because of back problems, collecting seven points, two rebounds and two blocked shots in 11 minutes against New Hampshire.
A first-team all-MAC pick in 2024-25 at Central Michigan, Jaruševičius (pronounced OOOG-niss YARE-rue-SHEHH-vih-CHUSS) started his college career as a a key reserve role at Cal State Bakersfield during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.