Vilkas played with two-time NextGen qualifier MVP at FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024
NextGen Munich MVP Vilkas inspired by former Barcelona youth star Jakucionis
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Lithuania has no shortage of great players and one of the next ones on the radar could be Arminas Vilkas, who took home the Most Valuable Player honor after helping the U18 Next Gen Team Munich take the title at the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Munich. And the center draws a bit of inspiration from a player who left a major mark on the competition in the last two years - Kasparas Jakucionis.
Vilkas averaged 9.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.8 blocks and a 19.2 PIR as NGM defeated U18 Valencia Basket 88-100 to take first place in the second qualifying tournament of the season. He ranked third in PIR, fourth in rebounds, second in blocks and second in offensive rebounds with 3.5.
“It really means a lot. It was unexpected for me. We had a lot of really great players on this team. So it really means a lot. And I appreciate it very much,” said Vilkas, who collected 16 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steal and 5 blocks for an index rating of 36 in the first place game.
“I had 12 players in my head and trying to give them fair minutes so they could get the best exposure out of this tournament. Arminas really stood out. He really deserved the minutes he got. I had to keep him in the game. This guy was incredible all tournament long - offensively and defensively. He helped us so much,” NGM head coach Dogus Balbay said about Vilkas.
This was the second time Vilkas was playing in the competition after he was an invited player for U18 Zalgiris Kaunas at the NextGen Dubai tournament last season.
“The city of Dubai was great, and the whole experience was great. Zalgiris is a great system. We played great, too. We lost in the final, sadly. But it was a great experience,” said Vilkas, who averaged 4.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in Dubai, where the team lost to U18 ratiopharm Ulm in the first place game.
Vilkas is a Kaunas native and started playing the game in second grade and grew up playing for Tornado Kaunas. He is still playing for the team - though only at the U18 level. This season he is also playing for Vilkaviskio in the Lithuanian second division.
Vilkas last season played with Zalgiris as an invited player, but this time he was chosen by Adidas for the Next Gen team for the Munich tournament.
“It means that people see me and they think I can play. I really appreciate that. And I am really happy to be here,” he said.
Vilkas was seen on the international stage twice last summer playing for his country. He averaged 1.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in helping Lithuania finish fifth at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024 as part of his own 2007-born generation. But he also played a year up and picked up 1.7 points and 1.0 rebounds as part of the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024 for the 2006-born generation.
“It was a really good experience. The (U18) team plays different basketball than Under-17. So I had to adapt because I came right after the World Cup ended. So I had to adapt quickly,” said Vilkas, whose final game of the U17 World Cup was July 7 and the opener of the U18 EuroBasket was on July 27.
Vilkas said it was exciting to play along great players on the U18 team like Jakucionis and Nojus Indrusaitis, both of whom have moved to college in the United States. That 2006-born Lithuanian generation won the title at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2022 and then finished sixth at the U18 continental tournament.
It was especially meaningful to interact with Jakucionis, who starred two seasons in the NextGen competition for U18 Barcelona. The guard won the MVP of the NextGen Zadar in 2022-23 and then repeated the honor at the NextGen Belgrade event in 2023-24. Jakucionis also made his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague debut in 2023-24 and played two games in the Spanish League.
“He was a really great guy. He's friendly. He talks. You would think like a star would be up here (signals above him), like, he wouldn't talk to you because you're too low for him. But he's a friendly guy. He’s like a friend. You can talk to him like a friend. And you don't see that he's a star, that everybody knows him,” Vilkas said of Jakucionis, who dominating for Illinois in college with 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.0 steals.
“It really inspires me to be a good guy and to reach for my dreams.”
And the performance adds Vilkas to a list of Lithuanian talents to watch for the future.