The Rytas Vilnius basketball club is starting a new phase of its youth program – as many as five promising system players are heading this summer to the strongest college basketball league in the USA (NCAA). Gantas Križanauskas, Gabrielius Jokubauskas, Nikas Stuknys, Gabrielius Bubnys, and Arminas Vilkas will start the upcoming season across the Atlantic, where they will combine high-level basketball with studies. This mass transition of young players to US universities reflects the consistent work of the capital club’s pyramid and its ability to prepare players for the international basketball stage.
At the forefront of this unique group of departures is guard Gantas Križanauskas, whose basketball journey in Vilnius began back in 2013 at the Capital Basketball School (SKM). Over the last four seasons in the Rytas Vilnius system, the basketball player consistently climbed the career ladder and earned a spot on the main men’s team, officially debuting in the autumn of 2023 in the LKL and the FIBA Champions League. Last season, G. Križanauskas played with a double license in both the NKL, where he averaged 10 points and 3.1 assists for Rytas Vilnius-2, and the main men’s team. As the youth team captain, he led Vilnius to triumph in the FIBA Youth Champions League and won a silver medal at the European Championship with the Lithuanian U20 national team in 2025. He will continue his career with the Portland State University Vikings.
Alongside Gantas, another Vilnius native and SKM product, Gabrielius Jokubauskas, played in the reserve team for three seasons. Although the forward did not officially debut for the main men’s team, he was an indispensable pillar of the reserve team’s rotation. In the past NKL season, he averaged 9.3 points and 4 rebounds. The FIBA Youth Champions League winner and Lithuanian U20 national team candidate will wear the Northern Kentucky University (NKU) Norse jersey next season.
A bit later, two years ago, point guard Nikas Stuknys moved from Panevėžys to the capital. Having signed a contract with the club in August 2024, the basketball player quickly became one of the best playmakers in the NKL – last season, he recorded averages of 7.3 assists and 11.7 points. His efforts were also recognized by the main team’s coaching staff: the point guard debuted and scored his first points in the FIBA Champions League in a game against Promitheas Patras. Regularly representing the country’s youth national teams (U18, U20), the basketball player will join the University of Tennessee at Martin (UT Martin) Skyhawks program in the USA.
Marijampolė basketball alumnus Gabrielius Bubnys began his journey in Vilnius in a similar way. Even before signing a professional contract with Rytas Vilnius in May 2025, he triumphed in the FIBA Youth Champions League as a guest player wearing the Vilnius jersey and was selected to the All-Tournament Team (averaging 18.3 points). Last season in the NKL, the guard averaged 11.7 points (40.2% three-point accuracy), and in December, he delivered an impressive performance, scoring 34 points against the Ukmergė team. The basketball player, who represented the Lithuanian U18 national team, will also join the UT Martin university in the USA.
Finally, center Arminas Vilkas became the fifth member of this group. Before signing a contract with the capital club in September 2025, A. Vilkas had already successfully represented Rytas Vilnius in international youth tournaments. He wore the Vilnius jersey in the 2025 Youth Champions League in Manisa, Turkey, where he averaged 10.3 points, and later dominated the Next Gen Hoops Invitational tournament in Vilnius, averaging 14 points and 12 rebounds. Additionally, at the beginning of 2025, representing an international team in the EuroLeague Youth Tournament, he was named the Munich stage MVP. Last season in the NKL, representing Rytas Vilnius-2, the basketball player scored 9.7 points and grabbed 5.7 rebounds per game, and in the autumn, together with N. Stuknys and G. Bubnys, he will form a strong Lithuanian contingent at UT Martin.
The Rytas Vilnius club sincerely thanks all five basketball players for their work, professionalism, and contribution to the organization’s victories, and wishes them a successful start in this new stage of their careers in the US college league.