Arizona announced the signings of frontcourt additions Ugnius "Oogie" Jaruševičius and Maksim Brnovic on Friday, weeks after both were added to the men's basketball tentative 2026-27 roster.
A center from Lithuania, Jaruševičius 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.
Arizona signee Maxsim Brnovic averaged 7.9 points and 3.9 rebounds for Montenegro during the 2025 FIBA U18 EuroBasket Division B tournament.
"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."
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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.
Nebraska forward Ugnius Jarusevicius (13) warms up before a game against Michigan State at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb., on Jan. 2, 2026.
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 key reserve role at Cal State Bakersfield during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.
He then led Central Michigan in scoring (16.2 points per game) and rebounding (7.3) as a junior in 2024-25. The Chippewas played at McKale Center early that season, losing 94-41 to the Wildcats, though Jaruševičius did not play in that game.
The Wildcats now have three players with Lithuanian ties that they are scheduled to take back to the Baltic country for an exhibition tour in August: Center Motiejus Krivas, Jaruševičius and Brnovic. UA is scheduled to face national teams from Lithuania and Ukraine.
Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at bpascoe@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @brucepascoe
Bruce Pascoe
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