Randy Bennett, now in his 24th season as head coach at Saint Mary’s, couldn’t think of the last time he more easily recruited a star player to Moraga than Paulius.
“But he wasn’t a star yet,” Bennett said. “He had to get here to be one.”
Murauskas showed star power last Saturday, scoring a career-high 29 points, including 6-for-10 from the 3-point arc, as Saint Mary’s (9-1) beat Utah 72-63 at the hostile Huntsman Center, the Gaels’ first win over the Utes in Salt Lake City since 1958.
The 6-foot-8, 235-pounder spent last season at Arizona, pinned behind two future pros at his power forward position. He averaged just five minutes per game off the bench for the Wildcats and when he decided to enter the transfer portal, his No. 1 objective was opportunity.
Murauskas didn’t know much about Saint Mary’s but he knew about Gaels point guard Augustas Marciulionis, the reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Year.
“I talked to my Lithuanian guy, Augustas,” Murauskas said of his countryman, with whom he played alongside and against in national-team settings and even 3-on-3 street tournaments back home. “He recruited me, you could say that. I was talking to him about how everything is here. He said it’s a really good place to be. Coach is going to coach you hard and trust it.”
Marciulionis was the winning connection. “Augustas is a big deal in Lithuania,” Bennett said. “Paulius definitely valued that and wanted to be in a situation where that could happen for him. He wanted minutes and he wanted to be at a place that could win.”
The Gaels needed a power forward after the departure of Alex Ducas, Joshua Jefferson and Mason Forbes, all key contributors to last year’s 26-8 team that earned a third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid.
“It was wide open,” Bennett said of opportunity at the position. “He was a little nervous — he wanted to make sure he was going to play. I wasn’t uncomfortable telling him that he was. Honestly, I didn’t know how good he was.”
Murauskas gave fans a glimpse of his talents in the win at Utah. Not his best game, insisted Murauskas, who earned Credit Union 1 WCC Player of the Week honors. He says he’s played better for his national team and his pro squad back home in Lithuania.
But it was clearly a breakout performance on the college stage. “Very impressed,” Bennett said. “That’s a tough game. Not only were his numbers good, but he hit big shots.” In fact, he made three 3’s in the final four minutes to help clinch victory.
Murauskas, 20, clearly has found a home. “I love it here. Everything is good,” he said. He lives five minutes off campus with his wife, Ugne, and their 2-year-old daughter, Sofia. “I’m just happy my family is here,” he said. “I can see my daughter every day.”
“He’s a little bit different than your average 20-year-old sophomore,” Bennett said. “He’s a really good dad and really good husband. It’s funny because he’s just a kid, still. But he’s got man responsibilities with his family.”
He’s also shouldering a big load for the Gaels, averaging 14.7 points and 9.5 rebounds, which ranks second in the WCC. He has five double-doubles in 10 games.
Growth has come through opportunity. “He’s gotten a lot better since he’s been here. You just don’t know — he wasn’t getting minutes,” Bennett said of Murauskas’ situation a year ago. “The best thing he does is rebound. Next-best thing is he can score.”
The biggest challenge has been at the other end of the floor. Arizona switches 1 through 4 on defense while the Gaels stay with their assignment in man-to-man defense.
“He’s really improved defensively. I’m so proud of the work he’s done on that,” Bennett said. “They play totally differently at Arizona — they switched everything. Even in practice, he didn’t get to play defense the way we play it as far as our man-to-man.
“He was kind of starting from scratch. But he wants to be a good player so he’s really worked at it. He’s got a ways to go but he’s really improved there. . . . He knows that’s where he’s got to get better to play at the highest level.”
Murauskas understands the priority Bennett makes playing defense. “Some games if I don’t play defense, I don’t play,” he said. “He sends that message.”
It’s all coming together and both coach and player say their ceiling for how good the Gaels can be this season has become higher as Murauskas shows what he can do.
“I think there’s a lot more in the tank,” Bennett said. “That’s where he has to play games, compete, learn how to fight through things, how to fight through scouts. It is new and it’s college, it’s not international.”
“If we keep improving like we are,” Murauskas suggested, we’re going to be really good.”