Hawaii men’s basketball program lures power forward | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

In the search for a multi-skilled power forward, the University of Hawaii basketball team found “Nemo.”

Gytis “Nemo” Nemeiksa, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward from Lithuania, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser he accepted a UH scholarship and will join the Rainbow Warriors next week for offseason training.

“I felt I got attention from the whole Hawaii staff,” said Nemeiksa, who is transferring after one season with Xavier. “The presentation went really well. I like everything about Hawaii — the weather, the people there. The Hawaii basketball team feels like one big family.”

This past season, Nemeiksa played in 34 games for Xavier. He started 20 games, but also was viewed as the sixth man, averaging 5.2 points and 4.2 rebounds. He scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds against Providence, which was led by the Big East Player of the Year Devin Carter. Nemeiksa had 10 points and five rebounds against two-time NCAA champion UConn.

“He’s a competent shooter,” said Jon Chepkevich who evaluates international prospects for DraftExpress. “He’s a guy who’s good at slicing into the paint, being physical, doing the dirty work, doing the small things that contribute to winning.”

Prior to Xavier, he attended Vytautus Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania, but played as an amateur for the Zalgiris Kaunas II club. He averaged 11.7 points (36.4% on 3s) and 6.1 rebounds in leading Zalgiris Kaunas II to the 2023 NKL championship. He was named the 2023 Final Four’s most valuable player.

“He was fantastic for them,” Chepkevich said. ”He was the team captain. He was a Swiss Army Knife. He did a little bit of everything for them.”

As an undersized wing through high school, he developed ball-handling and outside-shooting skills. He said he had a growth spurt when he was 17.

In joining Xavier last year, he said he wanted to experience the NCAA’s “high level of competition.” He praised his time at Xavier, noting, “the coaching staff was great, my teammates were great. … I think I grew up a lot through that year. I’m really thankful for that experience.”

But Nemeiksa said he entered the transfer portal to seek expanded playing time — an opportunity the ’Bows could offer. At the end of the 2023-24 season, posts Bernardo da Silva and Justin McKoy completed their UH eligibility. Mor Seck, a 7-foot-1 center who is recovering from an ACL injury, transferred to Fresno State.

The past spring, the ’Bows signed 6-10, 275-pound center Tanner Christensen, a transfer from Utah Tech, and point guard Marcus Greene of Houston Christian. Last November, the ’Bows signed guards Aaron Hunkin-Claytor and AJ Economou. Economou enrolled at UH in January and redshirted during the 2024 spring semester.