George F. Lee / GLEE @STARADVERTISER.COM / Jan. 30 UH’s Gytis Nemeik ša went up against UC San Diego Tritons’ Nordin Kapic during a Big West men’s basketball game on Thursday, Jan. 30, at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
George F. Lee / GLEE @STARADVERTISER.COM / Jan. 30 UH’s Gytis Nemeik ša went up against UC San Diego Tritons’ Nordin Kapic during a Big West men’s basketball game on Thursday, Jan. 30, at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
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The University of Hawaii men’s basketball team will run it back with last season’s leading scorer.
Gytis Nemeiksa, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward, received an NCAA waiver that will allow him to play for the Rainbow Warriors as a plus-season senior.
“It feels good to come back for one more season, ” Nemeiksa told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
After transferring from Xavier in August 2024, Nemeiksa played in all 31 games last season, starting 14. He averaged a team-best 12.3 points per game on 48.8 % shooting. He also was second in made 3-point shots (32 ), rebounding (5.6 per game ) and blocks (16 ). He had six games of 20-plus points, including 25 points and 11 rebounds against Oakland in the third-place game of the Diamond Head Classic.
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Nemeiksa was among the players celebrated during UH’s senior-night ceremony in March.
For the 2024-25 academic year, most senior student-athletes without apparent remaining eligibility were granted a one-time waiver for an extra season if they previously played at a non-NCAA school. The presumption was that applied to former junior-college players. Nemeiska’s initial argument was that attending a school in his native Lithuania (ahead of his lone season at Xavier ) was the equivalent of playing for a non-NCAA school. After several appeals, the NCAA recently granted Nemeiksa’s waiver because he delayed moving to the United States to play for Lithuania’s national team.
“It was a long and tough process with the waiver, ” Nemeiksa said. “It was hard. But I’m happy everything went well. I’m happy to come back to Hawaii.”
Last season, the’Bows did not qualify for the Big West Tournament for the first time in 10 years.
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“It was not the best season as a team, but I hope we’re going to do better this year, ” Nemeiksa said.
Nemeiksa is the 13th scholarship player on the’Bows’ roster. UH has reloaded the front court, adding 7-foot Isaac “Big Fish ” Johnson (Utah State ), 6-10 Yacine Toumi (Seton Hall ), and 6-8 Jalen Myers (Norfolk State ). Harry Rouhliadeff and now Nemeiksa also return. Isaac Finlinson, junior college’s Player of the Year, is a 6-8 transfer who can play both the three and four positions.
Nemeiksa recently competed for Lithuania in the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 World University Games in Essen, Germany. Lithuania lost in the semifinals to Team USA (represented by Baylor University ).
“I think if we played them a second time, we’d beat them, ” Nemeiksa said.
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