UConn continued building depth in the 2018 class on Monday with the commitment of big man Lukas Kisunas.
Thank you to all the coaches who took time to recruit me. I’m excited to announce my commitment to study & play basketball at #UConn ! pic.twitter.com/AsBjYb4hIT
— Lukas Kišūnas (@LKisunas) October 2, 2017
His commitment technically puts the Huskies one scholarship over their allotment next year, but as we discussed in last week’s mailbag, that doesn’t really matter right now.
At 6’10” and 256 pounds, Kisunas brings some size to a crowded 2018 front court. He is lauded for having good hands, strong rebounding instincts and a quality back-to-the-basket post game. ESPN’s Jeff Borzello described Kisunas as a “physical bruiser,” — something UConn has lacked in recent years.
A native of Lithuania, Kisunas has been playing at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire and was teammates with relatively new Husky Sid Wilson (Jalen Adams also played at Brewster).
After visiting UConn early last week, Kisunas pushed up his visit to Illinois (this past weekend), signaling that a decision was imminent. On Monday morning, he tweeted his commitment to the Huskies. He also held offers from Purdue, Old Dominion, Pittsburgh and Creighton.
Kisunas’s commitment continues a recent hot streak for Kevin Ollie, who has turned to projectable three-star guys to fill out the 2018 roster. Importantly, each of the three newest commitments (Kisunas, Emmitt Matthews and James Akinjo) fill some specific needs on the roster — rebounding, athleticism and defense respectively — while still offering substantial upside with good coaching and player development.
