2026 Lithuania Summer Tour Blog
08/12/2026 | Men's Basketball
Check back daily from Aug. 13-23 for updates from the players and coaches
While the Arizona men's basketball team is in Lithuania from Aug. 14-23, we will provide daily updates from the players and coaches themselves about their experience. So be sure to check back frequently or follow @ArizonaMBB on Instagram.
DAILY SCHEDULE
Thursday, Aug. 13 - Travel Day
Friday, Aug. 14 - Arrive in Vilnius, Lithuania & first practice
Saturday, Aug. 15 - Team Practice in Vilnius
Sunday, Aug. 16 - Practice & Sightseeing in Vilnius
Monday, Aug. 17 - Day trip to Palanga, Lithuania
Tuesday, Aug. 18 - Practice & Sightseeing in Kaunas, Lithuania
Wednesday, Aug. 19 - Game vs. Lithuania “B” team (9:30 a.m. MST - watch on YouTube)
Thursday, Aug. 20 - Game vs. Ukraine National Team (7:00 a.m. MST - watch on YouTube)
Friday, Aug. 21 - Practice & Sightseeing in Kaunas
Saturday, Aug. 22 - Game vs. Lithuania National Team (9:30 a.m. MST - watch on YouTube)
Sunday, Aug. 23 - Travel day back to Tucson
Day 9 - Hometown Hero
Hey Arizona fans, what’s up!
It’s hard to believe that this trip has come to an end, but what a way to go out!
For a couple months, Mo and I have been thinking about this trip and what it was going to be like being back in our home country with our Arizona teammates. We had ideas of what it was going to feel like, but these last 10 days have exceeded every expectation.
Let’s start with tonight - what an incredible night in my hometown of Alytus, Lithuania. Never in my dreams did I think that I would be playing college basketball in the United States and have the chance to play against the team that I dreamed of being part of – the Lithuanian Senior National Team.
And to do it in the city that I grew up in.
In an arena that’s just 10 minutes from my home.
With my family in the stands.
And my team wins the game!
It’s literally a dream come true, and I can’t thank the University of Arizona and Coach Lloyd for making it possible along with the Lithuanian Basketball Federation.
I can remember watching the national team every chance I got as a kid. It was something that took over the entire country whenever they played. And when they came to Alytus to play, like they did tonight, I was one of those kids in the stands watching every single movement the players make. And then when I would get home, or the next time I went the gym to shoot, I would try to recreate everything I saw.
So being on the other side of that tonight and having so many kids come up to me and want to take a photo with me or have me sign their Lithuania shirt brought everything full circle for me.
As I look back over the last nine days, as a new Wildcat that just joined the program over the Summer, I have learned so much. I’ve learned about the history of the program (thanks Coach Murph!), the standards that Coach Lloyd has for everyone and also more about my teammates.
And as great as this trip has been, we are all very excited to get back to Tucson. It’s going to be a long travel day on Sunday and then we start class on Monday while we let our bodies recover from a tough, physical summer of practices and workouts. Special shoutout to J-Rock (athletic trainer Justin Kokoskie) and Rounds (strength coach Chris Rounds) for all the extra time they spent with me over the summer to help get my body right so I could be ready to go for this trip.
I hope to see everyone in McKale on Sept. 26 for the Red-Blue Showcase, it’s going to be a GREAT afternoon in Tucson.
Bear Down!
Ugnius “Oogie” Jarusevicius
Day 8 - Preparing for Final Game
What’s good everybody!
This is Caleb Holt checking in from Lithuania as our trip is getting close to the end. Typically, I have not been a fan of traveling overseas, but this trip has been amazing. The people have been so nice and had such a great energy about them. I joked last night after our game that I could see myself living here with Uggy, not just because he’s a good dude but because I would also need him as a translator!
Today we had a walkthrough at Zalgiris Arena, which feels like an NBA arena, and then we came back to the hotel and watched some film. Then we had some time to ourselves in the afternoon so I went with some of the guys and we found an ice cream stand. It was some pretty good ice cream, so we might have to see if we can get back over there tomorrow before the game!
Since we are talking about games, of course I have to mention our win over Ukraine last night. Man, that was a fun game! It felt like we were so much more connected as a team and we were all out there encouraging each other. I am obviously new to Arizona basketball, but guys like Ivan and Mo told us afterwards that is what Arizona Basketball should look and feel like. So it was a great learning experience for all of us. I know we will all learn from these games as we get ready to get our season started.
For me, my shot feels good right now but it’s just not falling as much as I would like. It was a little bit of a relief to see a couple go in against Ukraine, but as long as we are winning I don’t care what my shot feels like.
And it was most definitely fun to win the game, my favorite moment came after the game. Walking out of the arena and seeing 20-30 kids all mobbing Mo as he walked to the bus was incredible. He is like a rock star over here. Whenever we are in public, fans notice him – he’s 7-foot-2, how could you miss him! And he has signed every autograph and taken every photo and done every interview. It’s inspiring for me to see him handle himself in that way and just continue to be the Mo that I know.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, our coaches have prepared us for a very good Lithuanian team. There will be some of the same players from the first game along with players that played for the “A” team last night against Estonia. On paper, we feels like this will be an even bigger challenge than the other night, so we know we have to bring the energy and focus from the jump.
We know it’s just an exhibition game, but if we are playing a game, why not give it your all and try to win. So that’s what we will try to do tomorrow night (I guess it would be Saturday morning for everyone in Tucson)!
To wrap this blog up, I wanted to give a shoutout to two special fans that we met at practice today. Their names are Min and Judy and they are from Tucson but came all the way to Lithuania to watch us play. I know Arizona fans are the best, but they had a reason for the trip – Min was born in Lithuania in 1944 and had not been back since he was two months old. He’s 82 years old now! And his wife attended Arizona and later worked at Arizona in the College of Fine Arts.
We have learned throughout this trip that being part of Arizona Basketball is bigger then just putting on the jersey. It is representing generations of people that’s a responsibility none of us take lightly.
Make sure you tune in to @ArizonaMBB on YouTube at 9:30 a.m. MST for our final game of the trip!
Bear Down!
Caleb Holt
Day 7 - Responding to Adversity
Aloha Arizona fans!
Before I get into this post, I just want to say thank you to all of the Arizona fans around the world for their support. Whether we have been in Tucson or here in Lithuania, it is always one big family. And as someone that has recently joined the family, it’s one of the things that really drew me to Arizona this offseason.
And continuing that family theme, this trip to Lithuania has been amazing. We had already built strong bonds with each other over the summer, but going all the way to Europe and spending 10 days together only strengthens those. We have been walking around the cities that we have been in, spending time together as a team and getting to know our roommates on this trip as well.
I know other guys have probably said this, but learning about the history of Lithuania and how basketball is such a large part of it has been eye-opening for me. The people have been so kind and love to talk basketball, whether it’s about the national team, the NBA, or Zalgiris. They just love basketball.
While all of that has been great, the last two days have been challenging for me as it relates to basketball. I have not been able to play as I continue to rehab my foot injury. On days like today when everyone is out there having fun, I miss being out on the court and being part of that more than anything. I am working with J-Rock (Athletic Trainer Justin Kokoskie) every day to make sure that we are doing all that we can to get my foot right. It’s a tedious process, but he is always there supporting me and encouraging me and that makes all the difference in the world.
Seeing how we responded to the adversity from yesterday made me proud to have “Arizona” across my chest. Our coaches did a great job of helping us focus on the things that matter and encouraging us to have a “growth mindset” to find ways to continue to get better.
Even if you go back to the first game against the Lithuania B team, it was so hard for me to sit on the bench and watch our guys go through that. I wanted to be out there and see if I could be the spark that go us going. But it wasn’t meant to be and I know that we have bigger things in mind this season, so I wanted to do all that I could to make sure I was part of that.
So for the time being, my role is to support our guys from the bench during the game and at timeouts. If I see some things that maybe Derek (Dixon) isn’t seeing, I try to share those things at timeouts or at halftime. That’s one of the biggest things I feel like our group has learned on this trip is that we can go so much farther when we are all working towards the same goal. It can be really powerful.
As I get to the end, I wanted to share something that has also been on my mind on this trip and that’s my family back in Hawaii. Last weekend while we were traveling to Lithuania, Hurricane Lala hit the Hawaiian islands. My family that lives around Hilo did not have electricity for most of this week and there is devastation all around the island. Our family was fortunate to have power restored earlier today, but he cleanup from the storms is on-going. Entire villages have been wiped out by flooding from the hurricane, and that breaks my heart that I’m not able to be there to lend a hand. But our family and the people of Hawaii are strong people and I know that we will get through it – together.
I appreciate you taking the time to read this and I hope you will tune in on YouTube this Saturday at 9:30 a.m. as we take on the Lithuanian National Team to wrap-up the trip.
Mahalo abd Bear Down!
JJ Mandaquit
Day 6 - Game Day!
What’s up Wildcat Nation!
Today was a day that all of us on the team were looking for, and I know many of you as well … GAME DAY! Before we get to the game, I wanted to share some of my thoughts on the first week of our trip and some things that I’ve taken away.
This has been an amazing experience so far on this trip, learning about the history and culture of Lithuania and how the game of basketball has been part of that for over 100 years!
But taking a step back and learning about how the country was part of the Soviet Union for so long and then how big it was to gain their independence in the early 1990s really got my attention. It obviously impacted every person living here, but I learned that it also hindered the basketball careers of so many talented players because they were not able to leave the country. And it makes me appreciate the opportunities we have to play the game that we love and do so freely.
As I think back on the game tonight against the Lithuania B team, of course we wanted to win the game. We are all super competitive and want to win every single time we step onto the court. But tonight wasn’t our night and credit goes to the Lithuanian team, they played hard right from the start and we didn’t get off to the best start.
But I am proud of our guys, when we were down 20 in the second half, some people might have expected us to pack it in and just look ahead to tomorrow against Ukraine. But that thought never entered anyone’s mind and we knew that if we got a few stops that we could get right back in the game. And we did. We got it down to eight a couple times in the second half but Lithuania would make a shot and not allow us to get closer.
There is so much that we will take away from the film of this game that will help us, not just against Ukraine on Thursday, but through the rest of the preseason as we lay the foundation for what this team can accomplish this year. And I know that we are all determined to come out and do our best to play better against Ukraine.
I also want to give a shoutout to the Lithuanian fans, they had that place packed tonight and there we a lot of energy in there. They were into the game right through the end and made it a fun atmosphere to play in.
To wrap this up, I want to mention how much I appreciate what Mo, Uggy and Maks have done this week. They have been our translators and tour guides and have also stopped for every kid or adult that has asked for an autograph or photo with them. I can see by the smile on their faces how much it means for them to be here in these moments.
Well, I’m off to get some rest and recover since it’s a quick turnaround for Thursday’s game (7:00 a.m. MST start). Thanks for reading and for following along throughout this trip.
Bear Down!
Derek Dixon
Day 5 - First Day in Familiar Territory
Hello Arizona,
Today was our first full day in Kaunas, a place that I spent the last two years before coming to Tucson this summer. And honestly, it was a little odd to be playing basketball in this city and not be wearing the green and white of Zalgiris.
Kaunas is the second-largest city in the country, with roughly 300,000 people living here. And during Zalgiris games, it feels like all 300,000 are in Zalgiris Arena. As a member of the Zalgiris youth team, I was able to play one game in the arena and it was a great experience. And I have been told it feels like this at Arizona home games so I’m looking forward to experiencing that too!
For those that may not know, Zalgiris Arena holds more than 15,000 fans and a lot of my teammates and coaches said it compares to an NBA arena. Before today, the gyms that we had been practicing in held 1,000-2,000 fans, so that was nice.
One of the many things I learned while playing for Zalgiris is the importance of culture. There is a level of expectations that must be met to play for Zalgiris and that is something you learn about right away.
Before I go on, I should point out that Motiejus and Ugnius also both played for Zalgiris before coming to the USA to play in the NCAA. So this place feels a bit like home to them as well!
And as I begin my journey as a Wildcat, I am learning that Coach Lloyd and this program have standards that must be met. That’s what has been the most beneficial to me about this trip so far. Learning about the history of great players that have worn the Arizona jersey has helped me begin to grasp what it means to be at Arizona. We are not just playing for our teammates on the roster this year, we are playing for all those guys who came before us.
I was also able to take some time and visit the apartment complex where I lived when I played here. It put a smile on my face to see so many of my former teammates there and doing well.
We play our first game tomorrow night here in Kaunas (early in the morning back in Tucson!) and I am excited that my mom, dad, brother and aunt are all going to be there. It is between three and four hours for the flight for them from Montenegro to Lithuania, but nothing beats having your family in the stands supporting you.
Besides our practice, we took a visit to the Lithuania House of Basketball here in Kaunas. This was a good learning experience for a lot of us. Most people think of the 1992 Lithuanian Olympic Team, but learning about how the origins of the game of basketball have a Lithuanian connection was something new for many of us.
The quick story about the connection is that a woman by the name of Senda Berenson Abbott, the “Mother of Women’s Basketball”, was born in Lithuania. She was a P.E. teacher in Massachusetts at the same time that Dr. James Naismith invited the game of basketball. She took his concepts and created an exercise regimen for her all-female classes. And that eventually evolved into the version of women’s basketball that was played for years and she organized the first women’s basketball game in 1893.
I think that’s all for now. We are looking forward to the friendly game tomorrow against Lithuania “B” team in Jovana. I hope you are able to tune in on YouTube (at 9:30 a.m. MST)!
Bear Down!
Maksim Brnovic
Day 4 - Legendary Visit to the Baltic Sea
Hi Arizona fans,
This is Endurance Aiyamenkhue with Arizona Basketball, but most people call me “Endi”, and today was a special day for us in Lithuania! We were able to meet an iconic figure in the game of basketball – Lithuanian legend Arvydas Sabonis.
Before we go any further, if you aren’t familiar with Arvydas, please take a few minutes and watch this video that talks about his career
As a kid growing up in The Netherlands and then moving on to play in Germany before coming to Arizona, everyone knows the name Arvydas Sabonis. He was special in his ability to use basketball as a way to unite people and show others outside of Europe what the Lithaunian culture was all about.
But having watched “The Other Dream Team” as part of this trip and hearing coach Lloyd talk about Arvydas, I had no idea that impact that he had on his entire country. And it reached far beyond basketball, especially during the time when Lithuania was splitting away from Russia in the early 1990s.
He is an incredibly humble man who does not seek any attention, but he made a point to visit us while we were having dinner and talk with our Lithuanian teammates – Mo, Oogie and Maksim. The respect that those guys have for Arvydas was one of my biggest takeaways.
The rest of our day consisted of packing our bags and departing Vilnius in the morning to make the 3.5 hour drive across the entire country of Lithuania to Kretinga for practice. It was nice to see another part of the country and practice in a different gym. And since I played in Germany last year, it felt somewhat like home to be back in one of these smaller gyms with around 1,000 seats.
After practice, we made the short drive to the city of Palenga, which is right on the coast of the Baltic Sat. That’s where we met Arvydas and his family and had dinner – I think everyone got more than enough to eat! Then we took a short walk to the beautiful beach in Palenga and some of us even dipped our toes in the water, and it wasn’t as cold as I would have thought since the temperatures are in the 70s here.
We closed out the day by hopping back on the bus and heading toward the city of Kaunas, the second-largest city in the country. Everyone has told us that they absolutely love basketball in Kaunas so I’m eager to see what that’s all about.
The first few days of this trip have been really amazing, but the highlight for me has been being able to dig into the culture of Lithuania and learn about the history. I truly didn’t have much knowledge of it prior to this trip, these are things that I will take with me for life. I’m sure this week will start to include more preparation for the games that we have coming up and I know we all can’t wait for those!
Speaking of those, I need to throw in another plug here at the end to remind you that all of our games on this trip will be streaming on our YouTube channel - @ArizonaMBB. Hope you can tune in starting at 9:30 a.m. back in Tucson on Wednesday.
Bear Down!
Endi Aiyamenkhue
Day 3 - History Lesson
Greetings from Vilnius!
Hey Arizona fans, we hope you have enjoyed your weekend wherever you are and were able to spend some time with friends and family. That’s exactly what we have been doing here in Lithuania while also getting some time on the court so we are ready for the three games coming up this week.
Being new to Arizona, this trip has really been beneficial for me off the court. I am naturally a homebody as I get ready to start my fourth year of college. But being in a foreign country with my teammates has allowed me to spend more intentional time with them along with the coaches and support staff.
It’s become very easy for me to see how much EVERYONE associated with the program cares about everyone. And at the end of the day, we are all working towards the same thing and that’s to have the best season we can. And part of that is building relationships with my teammates, coaches and staff and learning what makes them go while they also get to know me as well.
Obviously I go up against Mo and Oogy in practice every day, but it’s been neat for me to see them be right at home here in Lithuania. Whenever we can’t read something on the menu or if we are walking around town and don’t know what something says, we can ask them and I think they enjoy helping us learn about the country and the city.
One of the things that we learned about Lithuania’s past came from our visit to the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fighters. To make sure I got this right, this is what the website for the museum says the museum means to the people of Lithuania:
‘The Museum is housed in a building where the Soviet security services, best known to the world as the KGB, operated for almost 50 years. For the people of Lithuania, this building is a symbol of the Soviet occupation, and it is therefore very important that a museum is established in this building to remind the present generation and to tell the next generation about the difficult and tragic years 1940-1991 for Lithuania and its people.’
As soon as you walked into the building, there was a very somber feeling. And then as we made our way through the building and saw some of the spaces and what they were used for, it really left an impact on you. And when you think that the building was occupied by Russia up until 1991, just 35 years ago, and that many people that live in Vilnius currently may have been here at that time, I can’t begin to imagine how differently they view the world.
I wasn’t entirely sure what to think when I saw it on the itinerary, but I’m glad we were able to visit the museum and learn more about that history. It makes me appreciate even more how nice everyone is when we are out and about and thankful that we have the opportunity to visit.
In addition to the visit, we also had another good practice this afternoon. Each and every practice is so valuable to me as I learn the terminology and the different aspects of the offense and defense that Coach Lloyd likes to run.
I will leave you with something pretty cool that we saw at lunch today. We made a stop at “Hesburger”, which is a fast food chain restaurant that is based in Finland but has locations all over Europe. We needed something quick because we didn’t have much time between practice and the museum visit so we walked over to Hesburger.
As we walk in, we see this on the menu – “Arizonos mesainio kompleksas”. It roughly translates to an Arizona burger value meal! It was a cheeseburger with lettuce, bacon, an onion ring and BBQ sauce on it. I was looking for a chicken sandwich, so I didn’t try one but others in our group did and said they were a little different, but good! But it was pretty crazy to walk into this chain restaurant in Lithuania and see “Arizona” on the menu!
Thanks for taking the time to read my post and hope you will tune in to our games this week, starting Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. (Tucson time) on our YouTube channel (@ArizonaMBB).
Bear Down!
Evan Otten
Day 2 - Sights and Sounds of Vilnius
Hey Wildcat Nation,
Appreciate you taking the time to check out our blog from our trip to Lithuania. We have only been here for two days, but we have really started to get immersed in the city.
Today I think every felt more like themselves and feel like our bodies are adjusting to the time zone over here. Being 10 hours ahead of Arizona makes a big difference, but all in all, I think everyone has adjusted well. A few of us may have been awake a little earlier than we had hoped this morning, so we will hopefully be a little better with that tomorrow.
This morning after breakfast at the hotel, we made the 15-minute drive over to the old practice facility for the BC Wolves, who competed in the LKL (Lithuanian Basketball League). It’s a nice practice facility and we are grateful that they are allowing us to use it during this part of our trip.
After practice we had some free time to out and explore the city a little and I really noticed how different a lot of the buildings look. But Vilnius is very easy to walk around, and a lot of things are within walking distance.
We had a quick film session in the afternoon, where we looked at some things from our practice that we can improve upon and then looked at some things that we think our opponents might try to do in the games coming up next week.
From there, we took a walk around as a team. Since it is Saturday, there were a lot of people walking around and, as you can imagine, it’s not common to see so many guys as tall as Mo Krivas and Ugnius Jarusevicius walking the streets. And while people would give us some looks, once they saw the “Block A” on our shirts, many of them immediately knew who we were and why we are here.
“Oh, that's Arizona from NCAA,” I heard a couple people say!
That just goes to show you how important basketball is here, not just in Vilnius but in this country. They know who, where and when their national team is playing. That sounds a lot like Tucson and the state of Arizona!
We closed the day with a fantastic meal at Momo Grill. The variety of food that they have there is incredible and everything tasted great!
So far, my favorite thing has been getting to spend time with my teammates off the court. We have been together a lot over the summer, but this is a new environment, and it’s been fun to see everyone outside their comfort zone.
Thanks for reading this and keep following along as we get to know more about Lithuania in the coming days!
Bear Down!
Cameron Holmes
Day 1 - Arriving in Vilnius
What’s up Wildcat fans,
This is Ivan Kharchenkov checking in from Vilnius – the capital city of Lithuania – as we get our trip underway. Today was a 20-hour travel day for us after we left Phoenix early Thursday morning and arrived in Lithuania around 12:30pm local time here. And while long days of travel are something I’ve become accustomed to whenever I go home to see my family from Tucson, the time definitely goes by faster when traveling with teammates.
We were all a little sleepy for our first flight from Phoenix to Chicago, so it was kind of quiet as many of the guys went back to sleep. We had a 4-hour layover in Chicago so we all went to eat together as a team, and that was fun to spend time with the guys and just check with each other about the trip and what they are looking forward to.
Next was the long 8-hour flight from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany aboard the “Queen of the Skies”, a Boeing 747-8 aircraft. It was my first time on a plane that big and it was impressive. Coach Lloyd asked all of us to watch two movies at some point during the travel day – “Lute” and “The Other Dream Team”. Both movies are especially important to us and this trip in their own way and I enjoyed both of them.
It was a smooth flight through the night and we landed in Germany around 8:30 a.m. local time. We had a couple hours before our connection flight to Vilnius, so we made our way through customs and then towards our gate. And although I did play over here in Europe, this is actually my first time to the city of Vilnius. I have noticed it is like many other European cities in that some of the architecture and buildings have a little bit of an older feel to them, but everyone has been so nice and welcoming to us so that has been great.
Speaking of welcoming, how about the welcome that Mo and Oogy received from the local media as we exited the airport! There were tv cameras and reporters there capturing their every move as we made our way to the bus. I would guess that is a pretty special feeling to be able to be part of a trip like this in your home country.
After arriving in Vilnius, we checked in at the hotel, grabbed lunch and then headed right off to practice at a local gym. As you can imagine, everyone was a little tired but we all pushed through it and enjoyed spending time with each other doing what we love – play basketball.
We went back to the hotel and got cleaned up for dinner and then spent some time walking around Old Town in Vilnius. There was so much life and energy with people sitting outside restaurants having coffee or dinner and just enjoying the perfect weather (70 and sunny!).
Personally, I am looking forward to having my parents stop by a little bit later in the trip. They have made a couple visits to Tucson over the past year, but it’s neat for me to have the chance to spend time with them and my teammates on this side of the pond.
Well that's enough from me for today. It was a great start to the trip and we are looking forward to what’s coming up!
Bear Down!
Ivan
P.S. - make sure you check out Endi's vlog from our first day, I think he's a natural!
