GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Earlier this summer, the Florida coaching staff used video and analytics to identify an international prospect. The more the Gators watched speedy Lithuanian guard
Kajus Kublickas the more they were intrigued by his potential as a point guard who could develop in the program. The interest, as things turned out, became mutual, but meeting all the time crunch relative to NCAA eligibility guidelines – given Kublickas was on the other side of the planet – presented something of logistical challenge.
Kublickas, though, flew to Gainesville in July, took the ACT, briefly toured the campus and headed back to finish his club season playing for BC Zalgaris, a program that has produced the likes of Lithuanian-turned-NBA players Arvydas Sabonis, Darius Songalia and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and in the spring sent 7-foot-2, 260-pound center Motiejus Krivas, one of the world's top international prospects (and Kublikas' teammate), to the University of Arizona.
Last week, Kublickas's enrollment and addition to the Florida 2023-24 basketball roster became official, followed by his arrival at the UF basketball complex, as members of Coach
Todd Golden's second Gators team began trickling in for the start of fall semester Wednesday. Kublickas is the fourth international player on the roster, joining returning sophomore forwards
Aleks Szymczyk (Germany), plus transfer forward
Tyrese Samuel (Canada, by way of Seton Hall) and freshman center
Alex Condon (Australia).
Kublickas, a 6-1, 186-pounder from Kaunus, Lithuanina, becomes the team's eighth newcomer and completes Golden's 17-month roster overall, as no scholarship players remain from the squad he inherited from Mike White in March of 2022. Kublickas joins a backcourt that returns a pair of starters in sophomore
Riley Kugel and junior
Will Richard, and was bolstered by the addition of Iona junior transfer
Walter Clayton Jr. and UC Riverside grad transfer
Zyon Pullin.
Kajus Kublickas
For now, the backcourt rotation is expected to be a combination of Kugel, who is showing up in 2024 NBA mock drafts and broke out late in his freshman season by averaging 17.3 points over the final 10 games, along with Clayton (16.8 points per game and Mid-American Athletic Conference Player of the Year), Richard (11.3 ppg, 49.3 percent from the floor, 39.8 percent from 3) and Pullin (18.3 ppg and first-team All-Big West Conference in '23). Those four are givens. Don't rule out a role for sophomore
Denzel Aberdeen, who got next to no playing time as a '22-23 freshman, but has had a fabulous offseason.
That's five guards, so where would that leave Kublikas?
With his Euro background, bet on Kublikas being tight with his fundamentals and armed with a high hoops IQ. He's already a good passer and facilitator – with terrific end-to-end speed that can handle pressure defense by himself – but the rest of his offensive skills set could be a work in progress.
Who knows? The Gators have never seen him play "live," so they could be surprised, but the resume shows 6.3 points per game and 3.1 assists while playing backup point guard on the country's second-best pro league (without a contract, thus maintaining his NCAA eligibility) against not only solid competition but older players.
With four guards armed with 180 Division I games (including 159 starts), Kublikas won't be under any pressure to produce right away, so he can ease into things – with just five days between his arrival and first class, that's probably a good thing – and get the lay of the USA, the local land, as well as the Florida system.
IN CASE YOU MISSED
* Harry Fodder: How EJ Jarvis Fits In
* Harry Fodder: How Micah Handlogten Fits in
* Harry Fodder: How Walter Clayton Jr. Fits In
* Harry Fodder: How Alex Condon Fits In
* Harry Fodder: How Tyrese Samuel Fits In
* Harry Fodder: How Zyon Pullin Fits In
