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Songaila Has Been Exception to Lithuanian Rule
[size=-1]By LIZ ROBBINS [/size]
NY Times
Published: February 6, 2005
arius Songaila walked around in a daze, dropped somewhere in the middle of the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
He was too tired even for culture shock, having slept three hours after making the 18-hour journey from Lithuania to Boston to New Hampshire.
Nearly eight years ago, Songaila reluctantly left his family in Marijampole, Lithuania, with the blessing of his father, Ignas, who had recently been paralyzed after falling three flights off a construction site.
Ignas wanted his son to come to the United States to find a career in basketball; playing an extra year of high school at New Hampton Prep was Songaila's ticket to that future. He arrived just in time for the camping trip for new students, speaking little English. Songaila, 6 feet 4 inches at the time, was one of the first international students to go the prep school route and one of the few foreigners to take the four-year collegiate path to the N.B.A. In 2002, he graduated from Wake Forest with a degree in communications.
"I'm so glad I went to college," Songaila said while in New York with the Sacramento Kings last month. "I matured as a person and a basketball player."
Songaila, now 6-8, is in his second full season as a forward with the Kings. He has started seven games, four last week because of injuries to Chris Webber. He had a career-high 19 points against Seattle on Tuesday and was averaging 12.6 points and 7.7 rebounds as a starter heading into last night's game at Portland.
At Wake Forest, Songaila was the other half of the power sports couple on campus. Jackie Houston played on Wake's tennis team, which was ranked No. 2 in the nation.
"She was more famous than I am," Songaila said, playing down his role in Wake Forest's two trips to the N.C.A.A. tournament and in an N.I.T. championship.
After his sophomore year, he played on the national team that nearly upset the United States at the Sydney Olympics. He also played on Lithuania's Olympic team last summer. Though drafted in the second round by Boston in 2002, Songaila opted to gain more experience by playing professionally in Russia that season. Sacramento traded two second-round picks to get him the following summer.
He spends little time wondering if he should have stayed in Lithuania. "There were no teams that could pay you money to support yourself and your family," he said. "So college was probably the best way out."
Sarunas Marciulionis, the trailblazer of Lithuanian players in the N.B.A., was skeptical at first.
"I tried to convince him to stay in Lithuania," Marciulionis said. "My instincts still are that Lithuanians can succeed in the U.S. through their junior or international team. But Darius is one exception."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/s...d15421a&ei=5070
[size=-1]By LIZ ROBBINS [/size]
NY Times
Published: February 6, 2005
He was too tired even for culture shock, having slept three hours after making the 18-hour journey from Lithuania to Boston to New Hampshire.
Nearly eight years ago, Songaila reluctantly left his family in Marijampole, Lithuania, with the blessing of his father, Ignas, who had recently been paralyzed after falling three flights off a construction site.
Ignas wanted his son to come to the United States to find a career in basketball; playing an extra year of high school at New Hampton Prep was Songaila's ticket to that future. He arrived just in time for the camping trip for new students, speaking little English. Songaila, 6 feet 4 inches at the time, was one of the first international students to go the prep school route and one of the few foreigners to take the four-year collegiate path to the N.B.A. In 2002, he graduated from Wake Forest with a degree in communications.
"I'm so glad I went to college," Songaila said while in New York with the Sacramento Kings last month. "I matured as a person and a basketball player."
Songaila, now 6-8, is in his second full season as a forward with the Kings. He has started seven games, four last week because of injuries to Chris Webber. He had a career-high 19 points against Seattle on Tuesday and was averaging 12.6 points and 7.7 rebounds as a starter heading into last night's game at Portland.
At Wake Forest, Songaila was the other half of the power sports couple on campus. Jackie Houston played on Wake's tennis team, which was ranked No. 2 in the nation.
"She was more famous than I am," Songaila said, playing down his role in Wake Forest's two trips to the N.C.A.A. tournament and in an N.I.T. championship.
After his sophomore year, he played on the national team that nearly upset the United States at the Sydney Olympics. He also played on Lithuania's Olympic team last summer. Though drafted in the second round by Boston in 2002, Songaila opted to gain more experience by playing professionally in Russia that season. Sacramento traded two second-round picks to get him the following summer.
He spends little time wondering if he should have stayed in Lithuania. "There were no teams that could pay you money to support yourself and your family," he said. "So college was probably the best way out."
Sarunas Marciulionis, the trailblazer of Lithuanian players in the N.B.A., was skeptical at first.
"I tried to convince him to stay in Lithuania," Marciulionis said. "My instincts still are that Lithuanians can succeed in the U.S. through their junior or international team. But Darius is one exception."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/s...d15421a&ei=5070
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