Even though it is football season, college basketball season is just around the corner, with the Buckeyes tipping off on Nov. 2 against BYU in Salt Lake City.
There were a lot of roster changes for the Buckeyes heading into the 2026-27 season, and over the next couple of months, we will be dropping one player preview a week to get you caught up on the current roster.
The Ivan Njegovan File
Name: Ivan Njegovan Position: Center Class: Junior High School/Former School: Gimnazija Vladimira-Nazora High School Hometown: Otocac,
Croatia Weight: 260 pounds Height: 7-foot-2
Breakdown
Last season as a sophomore, Njegovan appeared in 30 games and made the first two starts of his career. He averaged 2.6 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 56.9% from the floor. He also blocked 12 shots.
Njegovan had his best game of his career against Mount St. Mary’s. He finished 7-of-7 from the floor and with 15 points.
As a freshman, Njegovan played in 21 games, averaging 1.6 points and 1.5 rebounds per game and shot 50% from the floor with eight blocked shots.
Before arriving at Ohio State, Njegovan played for Zadar and Bosco of the Croatian Premier League, averaging 7.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 56% from the floor. He was also a member of the Croatian U20 National Team that competed in the 2024 European Championship.
Njegovan averaged 6.1 points and 6.6 rebounds over seven games and finished the tournament with a big game against Bulgaria, scoring 15 points, grabbing 16 rebounds, and blocking three shots.
The Croatian played for his hometown team of Zadar in the ABA League, as well as the ABA Junior League over parts of the last three seasons.
Expected Role
Njegovan comes into the season as one of the more experienced players on the team and the second longest-tenured Buckeye, only behind John Mobley Jr.
Njegovan will enter the season as likely the backup center behind Josh Ojianwuna, but he could be the starting center early in the season as Ojianwuna gets used to game minutes again since he has missed almost two full years of basketball.
There were times last season when Njegovan looked decent in limited minutes, and that should be his role again this season. He is not a starting center or a 20-25 minute-a-night guy, but he is the experienced Buckeye in the frontcourt and can give a solid 8-10 minutes off the bench to rebound and be a tall, physical presence in the paint.
