Hawai’i Pacific reels in former Baylor, Northern Iowa big man Marino Dubravcic

HONOLULU – Making friends in the front court.

The Hawaii Pacific University men’s basketball team went back to the Division I ranks to help replenish the roster on Thursday, picking up the commitment of 6-foot-10 forward Marino Dubravčić out of the transfer portal.

Dubravčić, 6-foot-10, spent last year at Northern Iowa but missed the entirety of the 2025-26 season with an injury. He began his college career at Baylor as a scholarship player in 2024-25, seeing limited action across 18 games before entering the transfer portal.

Before coming over to the United States, Dubravčić played in the FIBA U18 European Championship for Croatia and averaged 6.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.7 blocks while helping his country win three of the seven games they played in.

Dubravčić is a high-energy player who displays his biggest impact when attacking the glass, moving without the ball as guards penetrate and when using his strong frame defensively. The Croatian sophomore has shown a comfort operating from each block and using both hands to finish around the basket, though he doesn’t create much for himself or others offensively.

He comes to the islands with two years of eligibility remaining and a massive opportunity to get onto the court. The 6-foot-10 forward provides a strong body down low, helping the Sharks mitigate the loss of multiple post players from last year’s NCAA Tournament rotation.

Hawaii Pacific has done well over the past few seasons when attacking the transfer portal, finding impact players from the Division I ranks that slip through the cracks while giving opportunities to players from other levels to show how much the talent line has been blurred between Division I, II and III along with junior college and NAIA programs.

Last season, the Sharks snatched guards Quentin Meza and Nemanja Sarenac from the Division I level and saw both players maintain key roles throughout an 18-win season. Meza became the latest transplant to earn All-PacWest honors in his first season with HPU, joining Joshua West, Diggy Winbush, Marquis Moore and Maj Dusanic as players to transfer to the islands after their college careers began and develop into all-conference players.

Dubravčić joins Evan Kilminster as the first players in Hawaii Pacific’s 2026 transfer class, providing a pair of sturdy building blocks to add to returners Avi Halpert, Nemanja Sarenac, Zane Gaul, Ike Sutton and Shawn Villanea.