With the Eurobasket U20 tournament looming, Washington Huskies forward Nikola Dzepina looks like he could be one of the big stars of the competition.

In an exhibition game against Turkey, the 6-foot-10 member of Team Serbia posted a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double while adding 3 assists and 2 blocks in the friendly, showcasing the complete skill set that made Danny Sprinkle and assistant coach Andy Hill push to get him on campus in mid-December to step into the rotation after center Mady Traore suffered a preseason foot injury.

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Not long after his arrival, Dzepina proved to be a promising offensive player with no fear of shooting the ball at any point in time, and as injuries piled up throughout the year on Sprinkle's roster, he never appeared fazed, even as he continued to get comfortable in the new system.

"He's exceeded my expectations for a kid that just joined us on December 10 or whatnot," Sprinkle said of Dzepina in early February. "He's helped us win some games, and he's played well. Now that we have some depth back, it's hard to get minutes at times. He's getting better every day in practice. He can really shoot the basketball. He's a willing learner, and, you know, we'll see where it goes from here."

"He's still a freshman. But there's going to be games where he's going to come in and knock down two or three threes and grab some great rebounds, but he's a very skilled offensive player, passing the basketball. Like, against Nebraska, I thought he was tremendous. He only got in there at the end of the game, I think he had 4 or 5 points and a couple of assists, but that's just what he does."

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Across 14 appearances, Dzepina averaged 11.1 minutes, 2.6 points, and 1.3 rebounds per game, and he should be expected to step into a significantly larger role this fall.

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington basketball big man posts double-double for Team Serbia