Lukas Kisunas Commits to UConn

[aman kidwai]

3-star big man from Lithuania who is playing for Brewster Academy this winter

Profile: https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/lukas-kisunas-208155

Corey Evans: https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/uconn-rounds-out-2018-with-lukas-kisunas

"the Lithuanian big man brings a developed low-post skillset and a hard-playing mentality to Storrs... Kisunas is exactly what head coach Kevin Ollie was looking for in rounding out his 2018 class - a take-no-prisoners type of big man that can rebound his area, protect his basket and score with his back to the rim. Kisunas brings all that and further upside"

"Kisunas played during the spring on the Adidas circuit with the New England Playaz before completing his summer with the Lithuanian under-18 squad at the European Championships. In just 17 minutes of action, Kisunas averaged 8.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, all while knocking in over half of his field goal tries."

 

[the Blades]

I beat your post by seconds Aman...... Ha Ha !....here's his twitter:

 

[12rtackerman12]

Seems to be filling the roster with a lot of 3 star recruits. Anyone worried about this?

 

[the Blades]

Are those offers accurate on his Rivals profile ? decent list........Virginia, Pittsburgh, Illinois, Purdue, Creighton, Providence, DePaul, Northwestern, Boston College.
If nothing else KO adds a little diversity to the team...I think this is a first for him...

 

[the Blades]

"Kisunas is also the latest Brewster player to commit to UConn. Former Husky Jeff Adrien and current Huskies Jalen Adams and Sidney Wilson are also Brewster products. "

 

[Respect33]

Are we still recruiting Dimon Carrigan?

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Seems to be filling the roster with a lot of 3 star recruits. Anyone worried about this?

I noticed this as well, but as with any Eurodude, most of them are unproven here and would not be much higher than a 3 star. On another note, Jake Voskuhl was a 3 star or worse, wasn't even the best guy on his high school team (fellow UConn Michael LeBlanc was) and merely became a starter on a national championship team and was a very underrated contributor to that team, who should be hired to coach Kisunsas. Voskuhl was the best fundamental post defender UConn ever had and the best outlet passer although Emeka could also outlet pass.

A lot of teams were after Kisunas, he looks like a contributor right away with that body. I will bet he can be good force on the boards right away. I like players who scrap and do dirty work in the post. He looks like that kind of guy, a banger. You don't win without bangers and UConn didn't have any the last few years.

 

[the Blades]

I noticed this as well, but as with any Eurodude, most of them are unproven here and would not be much higher than a 3 star. On another note, Jake Voskuhl was a 3 star or worse, wasn't even the best guy on his high school team (fellow UConn Michael LeBlanc was)

A lot of teams were after Kisunas, he looks like a contributor right away with that body. I will bet he can be good force on the boards right away. I like players who scrap and do dirty work in the post. He looks like that kind of guy, a banger. You don't win without bangers and UConn didn't have any the last few years.

With Ashton-Langford and Sid Wilson as teammates @ Brewster we can be sure Lukas wasn't the best on his HS team.....Also it looks like KO is going after a different kind of Big lately instead of the stringbean shot blocker type like Brimah. All the guys he's brought in over the last year are in the range of 245lbs + ( Cobb, Carlton, Onuorha and now this Euro guy..) Guess he wants some guys to set screens for his movement-guard/wing dominated offense...... from the other post:

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

And Jake Voskuhl could set better screens and picks than any big in UConn history. Never got called for offensive fouls like Brimah. Brimah never got the footwork down on setting screens. If you baby shuffle your feet you will get called for the O-foul. You have to plant and absorb contact. Voskuhl was remarkable at it. The true dirty work bigs are all good at doing stuff like this. And Blades I agree on the bodies of the new KO bigs. You need guys like this to set effective screens that free up your great scoring guards and wings. Kisunas has a better body now than Voskuhl did as a freshman. If he can clog the lane, rebound, set screens, and occasionally score on pick and roll plays he will be a great 5 for us. I want Voskuhl hired, perhaps even as a part time consultant, to work with these guys. If you want them taught properly, bring in the guy who was the best at doing it and played 10 years in the NBA despite no offensive game to really speak of.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

By the way if your team goes undefeated and you are the third best player but the best big, chances are you had something to do with being undefeated.

 

[Dominicfrank]

There is a line in the movie shallow Hal when his friend comments about the "hot streak' Hal is on.........thats us. We go over the limit of ships for this kid? Im not crazy about losing Adams to the NBA and replacing him with a 3 star slow big.

 

[Respect33]

I feel like Lukas kisunas, Eric Cobb and Josh Carlton are all the same type of player.

 

[the Blades]

I feel like Lukas kisunas, Eric Cobb and Josh Carlton are all the same type of player.

True like I said above, I guess KO got sick of guys like Brimah being rooted out by stiffs from mid majors... right now Carlton looks like he's got the best post moves & most upside, but he looks like he needs to get stronger and Cobb is the most D-1 ready, as he should be since he's a JR with high-major experience.....This kid is probably a 3rd in line behind them after Onuorah leaves, but since KO's been using a roster w/ open ships for the last few years, ( and got screwed by it with about 6 healthy players at times, last year) might as well use one for a backup project/ APR booster... Time will tell where this new type of post philosophy takes the team.....

Also Larrier has already said this is his last year so KO probably has at least one more add.

 

[the Blades]

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Yes it does appear to be a change in philosophy but also makes sense because these are the kinds of post players needed to execute Ollie's guard oriented pick and roll offense. How many offensive fouls did Brimah get called for ineffectively trying to set screens? Brimah was the antithesis of a dirty work post, he was a pure shotblocker who didn't rebound well, didn't play good fundamental positional defense and didn't set effective screens. Now UConn has some meaty bodies who can do some of that much needed dirty work. We shall see how tough and dirty these guys can get. But I understand the shift in philosophy.