Darius Songaila's junior season started
with an Olympic bronze medal, a 12-0 record and a No. 4 national
ranking. It ended with a blowout loss to Butler, a fifth-place
ACC finish and his coach, Dave Odom, leaving for South Carolina.
Wake Forest's Lithuanian star can only hope his senior season
goes a little smoother under new coach Skip Prosser. In the
latest edition of One-on-One, the guy they call the Baltic Bear
talks about his new coach, his old coach and hunting for quail.
TSN: Have you talked to coach Odom since he left for
South Carolina?
DS: Twice. He gave me a call. And he was back in town a
few weeks after he just left and I met with him then.
TSN: Did you understand his reasons for leaving?
DS: I did. He felt like it was time to move on. If he
felt he has to leave here and go somewhere else, I guess he'll
be happier there. I don't know the real reasons. I think I'm the
wrong person to ask. If you want to know the real reasons, you
should ask him.
TSN: What were your emotions when you heard he was
taking off?
DS: I was surprised. I didn't want to believe it. I was
kind of upset in the beginning, but he made the decision that
was best for him.
TSN: First impressions of your new coach, Skip
Prosser?
DS: Very good. Nice guy. Very easy to talk to. And he's a
funny guy, too. He cracks a lot of jokes.
TSN: What are you up to this summer?
DS: I just finished my first session of summer school and
started the second one. I'm working out, playing with teammates.
At the end of August, I'm planning to go back home and try out
for the (Lithuanian) National Team that will play in the
European Championships, but it's not for sure yet. It might
interfere with academics and I haven't talked to Coach Prosser
about it yet. It would take about a month.
TSN: How big a deal are the European Championships?
DS: You guys don't have continent championships here --
an American championship or something like that -- but it's
really big in Lithuania. Pretty much all the basketball teams
that played in the Olympics participate.
TSN: Last summer, you got to go up against the Dream
Team in Sydney. What did you take away from that experience?
DS: The first thing I learned is that they're not as
scary as they look. A few years ago at the Olympics, all these
teams would go to play the Dream Team and they'd be like,
"Oh, there's no way we can win." But everybody saw
that they're not immortal. They're the same players we are.
Maybe they're more talented and more athletic, but there's not a
big difference between a good player from another country and a
good player from here.
TSN: Think there will ever come a day when Lithuania
or another country wins the gold at the Olympics?
DS: I think it will. Maybe not the next Olympics, but I
think there will come a day. Every year, you get more and more
international players coming to the NBA and playing with those
guys. And if you look at the stats from the Olympics, the
margins between those teams is getting smaller and smaller. One
day, somebody will do that.
TSN: Where do you keep your bronze medal
DS: Right now, it's at my fianc?s parents' house in a
safe.
TSN: When are you getting hitched?
DS: Next year May.
TSN: Congratulations. You're the first member of your
family to come to the United States. Why did you?
DS: The opportunity to play a good level of basketball
and to get a good education.
TSN: Is there such a thing as college basketball in
Lithuania?
DS: There is, but it doesn't compare to the NCAA. It's
not even close. There are colleges, but basketball there is like
intramurals here, that kind of level.
TSN: How'd you go from Lithuania to New Hampton (N.H.)
Prep, where Wake Forest found you?
DS: One of my friends has clinics for kids back home in
Lithuania and some college coaches come. He knows a lot of
coaches. After he saw me play, he told me if I would like to go
to the United States, he could help me out and he did. That's
how I ended up in high school in New Hampton.
TSN: How big is basketball back home?
DS: The No. 1 sport.
TSN: Bigger than here?
DS: Well, in the United States, you have baseball,
football, ice hockey, NASCAR, basketball, all these sports. In
Lithuania, you have basketball, then it drops down. Maybe
soccer's somewhere, but then it drops down.
TSN: How often do you get home?
DS: Once a year -- usually for a week or two.
TSN: What do your folks do for a living?
DS: My mom is an elementary school teacher and my dad was
a construction worker until five years ago, but he fell out of
the third floor and broke his back so he's paralyzed now from
the waist down and in a wheelchair.
TSN: Do they get to see your games at all?
DS: No. They don't get any American broadcasts over
there, so I take some tapes of my games back home.
TSN: Have they been over here yet?
DS: No.
TSN: When you make that NBA money, are you going to
put them on a plane?
DS: Definitely. Well, I don't want to go there yet -- NBA
money. That's one year ahead and you never know what's going to
happen. But I certainly hope I'm going to be able to bring them
here for graduation.
TSN: Besides friends and family, what do you miss
about Lithuania?
DS: That's it. I like to go home and see my friends, go
out or go fishing. And my mom's cooking, obviously.
TSN: What's the biggest fish you've ever reeled in?
DS: I caught about a 30-pound tuna in Morehead City
(N.C.).
TSN: Which ACC fans give you the toughest time on the
road?
DS: Duke's fans are the most obnoxious. The gym is really
small and all the fans are sitting right there, so you can hear
every word they say.
TSN: What sort of stuff do they say?
DS: If you want to know that, go to a Duke game. I'm not
going to be the guy to announce it.
TSN: What's in your CD player?
DS: I like Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, '80s rock songs.
TSN: Favorite movie of all-time?
DS: Braveheart.
TSN: Who's the best player you've guarded?
DS: Probably Timmy (Duncan).
TSN: What do you like to do when you're not playing
basketball?
DS: School takes a lot of my time, but I like the
outdoors. Hunting, fishing -- it's all fun.
TSN: You hunt, too?
DS: I try.
TSN: What do you hunt?
DS: I went hunting for quail. I just got into it a year
and a half ago. Right now, I'm still in the learning process.
TSN: They don't have you watching NASCAR down there,
too, do they?
DS: No. I don't find that interesting at all. I don't
think I'll ever find baseball or NASCAR interesting. It's too
boring for me.
Three times a week, Jeff goes "One-on-One" with
a college personality. E-mail Jeff at jdalessio@sportingnews.com.
