Daily News | Rokas Jocius, from Lithuania to LaSalle, seeks to develop his game
Villanova's Angelo Brizzi keeps the ball from La Salle's Rokas Jocius left and Hassan Drame on Nov. 7.In the La Salle men’s basketball lineup, a 6-foot-10 newbie stands out above the rest while sporting a white headband. His height and noticeable accessory invites the question: Who is that?
Jocius has been developing his basketball skills in a country of about three million people — and many of those people support and watch the sport, creating a competitive environment with career options that are too good to pass on.His first invitation to play for a Lithuanian national team came at the age of 14 — one out of 15 players to be selected over a couple of days in a training camp. To Jocius, this was a great honor, especially at a young age, to wear his country’s name on his chest.
Jocius also competed in the U19 FIBA World Cup, and both experiences proved to be valuable for his game and development. Since late July, Jocius has been living away from his family. It’s not a first for him. For Jocius’ final two years living in his home country, he was playing in Vilniaus, which is an hour away from his hometown of Kaunas. Still, an hour by Lithuania standards is traveling across about third of the country.At 14, he had already started to think about what it would be like to play basketball in the NCAA and professionally.
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