NASHVILLE — As the final buzzer sounds and Lipscomb seals its Atlantic Sun Tournament championship game victory over North Alabama on Sunday, it’s as loud and chaotic on the floor of Allen Arena as it has been since Lipscomb opened the facility in 2001.
But on the left wing of the Arena’s south end, there’s a player crying.
Lipscomb star Jacob Ognacevic — the ASUN player of the year — probably would be considered the least likely to cry among the Bisons’ players, but there he was. Lipscomb’s understated leading scorer, who generally stays to himself around campus and is rarely seen outside of his classes, practice and the individual workouts he often conducts deep into the night at Allen Arena, is standing there holding the trophy. Ognacevic, a 6-foot-8 forward, wasn’t supposed to still be here. He was supposed to have gone elsewhere to chase what everyone else chases these days in college basketball. Lipscomb coach Lennie Acuff says that will happen once this season ends, but for now Ognacevic is still on that court with this group of guys in this moment. He’s also a champion.
“That’s the reason why I came back; that’s the reason why a lot of guys came back,” Ognacevic told HoopsHQ. “That accumulation of work paying off today was just an overflow of emotions.”
Ognacevic, along with guards Joe Anderson — a 6-foot Furman transfer with an edge and a handle as quick as anyone’s in the country — and Will Pruitt—a 6-foot-3 score-first player labeled “Mr. Lipscomb”— could’ve gone elsewhere to pursue money and more attention, but they wanted what they had at Lipscomb more than that. They wanted to give it one last shot together as fifth-year seniors. The return of Lipscomb’s big three and the additions of 6-foot-3 guard Gyasi Powell, a fifth-year Jacksonville transfer, and 6-foot-10 William and Mary transfer Charlie Williams, who has settled in as a secondary facilitator and pick-and-pop big, allowed it to dream big from the get-go.
Acuff and his group were favored in the ASUN’s preseason poll, but in some ways they’re the classic underdog story. In nearly every game they’ve played this season, they’ve been the less-athletic and -talented team. A recipe like that isn’t new for Acuff — he coached 29 years below the Division I level before arriving at Lipscomb in April 2019 — and his staff, who often bypass more talented players to fill the roster with guys that check the boxes. “We’re not for everyone,” Acuff told HoopsHQ. “High-character kids, I just believe in that. I don’t think you can ever shortcut character. I think that the furthest distance between two points is a shortcut. We try real hard not to bring in kids that don’t fit.”
Fitting at Lipscomb is different than fitting just about anywhere else. You have to be able to run Acuff’s modified version of the Princeton offense, but more than that, you have to be a Lipscomb man. You have to be in tune with the school’s Christian ethics and culture. You have to be OK with the mandatory Tuesday chapel services. You have to be OK with the loads of Bible classes you’ll have to take. You have to be OK with the strict midnight curfew for freshmen and the school’s stringent alcohol policy, too. In most ways, Lipscomb’s basketball program doesn’t operate independently of the university. Those guys are subject to the same rules and standards that everyone else is.
“Coach Acuff and the assistant coaches haven’t budged; they haven’t budged on the type of guys they’re gonna allow in our locker room,” 6-foot-3 senior guard Jack Ingold said. “We have the best 15 guys in the country. They’re better human beings than basketball players. I think that’s what carries the weight. That is what makes us special … it’s such a bonded unit because of the culture that Coach Acuff has been set on establishing.”
Outside of its culture, the reasons Lipscomb finally got over the hump in the ASUN Tournament are similar to why it appears to be a realistic upset pick as a 13 or 14 seed. “I’m going to tell you right now, they are going to be a problem (in the NCAA Tournament),” North Alabama coach Tony Pujol said. “They have size. They have an interior game. They’ve got guys that can shoot it from behind the three-point line. And they’ve got a point guard that’s really darn good.”
Pruitt pointed to the team’s maturity when asked why Lipscomb could be dangerous in the NCAA tourney. “When you get hit, Coach says, ‘Don’t flinch.’ And when we get hit, we can shoot it one through five. We’ve got bigs who can shoot it, an unbelievable coach,” he said. “… I think we can be a dangerous team.”
