WBB: Wisconsin adds a veteran Croatian post player to round out 2025-26 roster
Dorja Iva Žaja has played for the Croatian national team and in the top pro league in Croatia.
The Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team had one roster spot remaining on Thursday, but by Friday they had zero because Croatian center Dorja Iva Žaja officially signed with UW. Robin Pingeton’s 2025-26 roster, her first in Madison, is now complete.
Standing at 1.91 m (oooooooooo, look at me using the fancy metric system) and turning 22-years old in the middle of the upcoming season, Žaja brings a wealth of international and professional experience to Wisconsin’s lineup.
Given her age and myriad years competing internationally, I’d imagine Pingeton hopes that Žaja can slot right into UW’s rotation with limited “ramp up” time needed.
Dorja Žaja Fast Facts
Height: 6-foot-3
Position: center
Eligibility: four years remaining
Previous Professional League: Croatia-Premijer Liga
Hometown: Zagreb, Croatia
Career Highlights: 2019 FIBA U16 Women's European Championship Division B First Team; FIBA U16 Women's European Championship Division B Best Forward; 2022 FIBA U18 Women’s European Championship Division B First Team; 2022 FIBA U18 Women’s European Championship Division B Best Center; 2023 Nike Hoop Summit World Select Team member; 2025 Croatian Premijer Liga Honorable Mention
Dorja Žaja Fast Stats
Career Youth National Team Stats (five tournaments)
GP: 32
PPG: 12.5
RPG: 9.2
APG: 1.8
I apologize to you, dear reader, but I will not be going through each tournament separately to calculate her shooting percentages because, uh, I don’t really want to.
2022 Youth National Team Stats (FIBA U18 Women’s European Championship Division B)
GP: 7
MPG: 25.8
PPG: 14.3 (sixth best in tournament)
RPG: 10.3 (third best in tournament)
APG: 3.1
SPG: 2.0
BPG: 0.7
TOPG: 2.0
FG: 41-of-84, 48.8%
3P: 1-of-1, 100%
FT: 17-of-35, 48.6%
2024 Youth National Team Stats (FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship Division B)
GP: 6
MPG: 28.5
PPG: 12.5
RPG: 7.5
APG: 2.0
SPG: 1.3
BPG: 2.5 (best in tournament)
TOPG: 2.7
FG: 30-of-64, 46.9%
3P: 0-of-1, 0%
FT: 15-of-30, 50.0%
2024-25 Croatia Premijer Liga Stats
GP: 27
MPG: 20.8
PPG: 9.1
RPG: 5.7
APG: 1.6
SPG: 0.8
BPG: 0.9
TOPG: 1.6
FG: 105-of-197, 53.3%
3P: 1-of-2, 50.0%
FT: 35-of-52, 67.3%
2024-25 Women’s Adriatic Basketball Association (WABA) Stats
GP: 13
MPG: 20.7
PPG: 9.4
RPG: 2.9
APG: 1.5
SPG: 0.8
BPG: 0.7
TOPG: 2.0
FG: 55-of-92, 59.8%
3P: N/A
FT: 12-of-23, 50.0%
Dorja Žaja Scouting Report
A 30,000 foot view comparison if you don’t want to read more than one sentence? She is a traditional post player who operates solely in the paint, much in the mold of Carter McCray. But you don’t subscribe to a niche women’s basketball newsletter for that! You want to get in the weeds!
Finding a ton of information on these international prospects is often difficult, but luckily Žaja is 21-years old and has been playing in major European tournaments since 2018 so there were a few nuggets I was able to unearth.
Standing at 6-foot-3, Žaja is an old-school post player that does almost all of her damage on offense at the rim. She possesses an array of post moves and can finish with both hands. What she is most certainly not is a shooter, despite her gaudy 50.0% three-point numbers this year. This season, across 830 minutes in Croatia Premijer Liga and WABA play, she has attempted a mere two three-pointers.
In her highlights above, I love her defensive instincts. She displays an ability to alter/block shots on closeouts while also playing tough interior defense. With Serah Williams off to UConn, the Badgers were certainly in need of someone who could provide rim protection and Žaja fits the bill. She has long arms that can also get in passing lanes and disrupt opposing offenses that way.
Those same long arms help her on the glass and she is an industrious rebounder, especially on the offensive end where she hauled in 20.2% of Tresnjevka’s (her Croatian Premijer Liga team) boards on that end. She positions herself well under the basket to corral missed shots and has been battling grown up professionals for years, which will have her fully prepared for the rigors of the Big Ten.
While there weren’t a glut of ball-handling highlights, Žaja looked surprisingly fluid for a player at her height. I don’t want her running the offense, but she can be a safety valve to get the ball across mid-court if needed.
The Croatian performed well in all of her international appearances, regularly leading her team in efficiency, but Croatia struggled and still hasn’t made it back to Division A in the European Championships for U18 or U20.
Along with representing her nation she also earned a spot on the World Roster for the 2023 Nike Hoop Summit, the first time there was a women’s game at the annual basketball festival. “I was very surprised and happy when I got the invitation. I think it will be a great opportunity for me personally and for my basketball career to participate in a tournament like this,” Žaja told the London Lions website after the rosters were announced.
Žaja struggled in her 8:22 of playing time, missing her only field goal attempt and making one of two free throws. She added a steal but ended up with a plus/minus of -16 for the game, which the World Team lost 100-79.
Other notable players in that game included: JuJu Watkins (didn’t play because of injury), Hannah Hidalgo, KK Arnold, Madison Booker, Toby Fournier, Syla Swords, and Mikaylah Williams.
This season in Croatia, Žaja and Tresnjevka finished with a record of 21-1 and tied for first place in the regular season with Ragusa, with each team winning at home. The two juggernauts later met in the league finals where Ragusa won all three matchups, although two of them were one-point victories.
I like this pickup for Wisconsin a lot. Žaja has copious amounts of international and professional experience and should not be phased by the physicality of the Big Ten.
You may remember that on April 21, I wrote the following:
“Wisconsin has nine players on the roster and, with both 2025 freshmen decommitting, can bring in up to six more for next year. Here is how I would rank the positions UW needs with their current roster construction:
veteran, with starting experience, point guard
stretch big
backup point guard (multiple years of eligibility remaining)
wing (defensive)
wing (shooter)
best player available on UW’s board, regardless of position lol”
Since then, Robin Pingeton’s Badgers have:
brought veteran starting PG Ronnie Porter back from the transfer portal
While there is still one of my requests remaining (defensive stopper on the wing), you can’t teach height and Žaja has that in spades. Wisconsin now has a full roster and the next step is bringing all of the new pieces together and starting to form a team.
I read somewhere else that Zaja has 3 years of eligibility b/c of something about the 1 yr she was playing professionally in Croatia. Any insights?