Courtesy of UTA Athletics
As the UTA men’s basketball team prepares for the upcoming season, its first in a brand new conference, it has also had to prepare a fresh roster.
The Mavericks bolstered their roster through transfer portal acquisitions, as well as by recruiting both domestically and internationally.
Junior forward Teodor Simic and freshman guard Kajus Mikalauskas, both originally from Europe, join a roster looking to make headway in the United Athletic Conference.
Kajus Mikalauskas
Mikalauskas was born in London, but lived most of his life in Lithuania. However, he knew a decent chunk of information about Texas before moving to go to school and play basketball at UTA.
Courtesy of UTA Athletics
He had heard everything is bigger and that it’s pretty hot, but just knowing that couldn’t have prepared him for living it.
“It was pretty hard for me to go outside because I’m not used to that temperature,” Mikalauskas said.
Back home, he said, the summers top out around 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Back home is also where Mikalauskas learned to love basketball.
“Basketball is like a second religion to us,” he said. “Basketball is the main sport in Lithuania.”
His first memory of the sport was his first practice. Mikalauskas’ dad picked him up from school and drove him somewhere. His dad handed him shoes and some T-shirts and in the next instant, Mikalauskas was practicing basketball, at age 7, with kids he didn’t know.
“I just kept going to practices, and I fell in love with the sport,” he said.
The system Mikalauskas came from has four teams. It starts with the fourth and third teams playing in the Lithuanian third league, he said. The second team, Mikalauskas said, can be considered semipro.
The top team plays in Lithuania’s first division, the pro level, as well as the EuroLeague. He said the EuroLeague is the second-best league in the world, behind the NBA.
Courtesy of UTA Athletics
Last season, Mikalauskas had the opportunity to practice with the top team and even play in a few games.
“At the moment, it meant the world to me,” he said.
However, the goal was always to come to America to develop more as a player.
“I thought it would be a great opportunity to come here and learn and get to experience a different kind of basketball,” Mikalauskas said.
He arrived in the summer and has slowly been adjusting to life in Dallas-Fort Worth. Mikalauskas said one difficulty he has faced has been the distance of things. He said that things not being within walking distance has thrown him off a bit.
Campus life has also been different for Mikalauskas. He said Lithuania doesn’t really have big campuses like America does.
“Seeing all those campuses in the movies and finally to get to experience one, it’s fun,” Mikalauskas said.
With the season around the corner, he said his goal is to play the best basketball that he can.
“Cannot wait for the first win we are going to get,” Mikalauskas said.
Teodor Simic
Simic, originally from North Macedonia, started playing basketball at a young age. At just 8 years old, he was playing with the other kids, but his journey in the sport didn’t necessarily start there.
“I start playing basketball because of my father,” he said.
Simic’s dad was a professional basketball player and would bring him to the gym, practices and even games. He said that was where he really started to love basketball.
At age 14, Simic got the chance to move to Barcelona, Spain, where he played in a European club’s system. He was there for four years, until he turned 18.
Courtesy of UTA Athletics
When his contract in Spain ended, Simic was offered the opportunity to play professionally in Bosnia, which he took. He played with Borac Banja Luka.
“It was very good experience for me to start playing professional,” Simic said.
Before coming to UTA, he also spent time playing in North Macedonia for KK Kozuv AD Gevgelija.
Simic’s ultimate goal is to reach the EuroLeague. To accomplish that goal, he came to America to play collegiately.
He said he wanted the opportunity to be in school while playing, saying if he focused on playing professional basketball in Europe, he wouldn’t have had much time to study.
While on campus, Simic said, his favorite building is the Maverick Activities Center. He likes that so many utilities, like a large weight room and multiple basketball courts, are in one place.
When off campus, he enjoys going to Inclusion Coffee downtown to grab a quick drink in his free time.
The UTA men’s basketball team opens the season Nov. 2. Simic said his goal is to help the team win as many games as possible. While he has some personal goals, he said the team’s performance is more important.
Simic, now almost three months into his journey in America, still does his best to make time to talk to his family. With a big difference in time zones, it can be difficult to communicate at times, but he still makes the effort to stay connected to home.
While he hasn’t found much North Macedonian culture here in Texas so far, he isn’t giving up hope.
Doing research, he found a Balkan restaurant, Eddie’s EuroMart in Dallas, around a 40-minute drive from Arlington.
“I never been there, but I want to go one day to try the food,” Simic said.
But until then, he has a season of basketball to look forward to.
@j.e.journalism