Darius Songaila; Profile & season stats.

[Jim Metz <james.metz@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

	Below find a link to Songaila's four year stats. (scroll to the
bottom of the page) and a lengthy personal profile written before last
season.
	It seems to me that the only thing that held him back this past
season was foul trouble (can't we say the same thing about Paul
Pierce?). I don't see any indication of the 3 day a week, Battie
syndrome from these stats., or from the several ACC fans who saw him
play on a regular basis.

	JB

**********
Stats Link:
 >>http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/basketball/college/players/178574.htm<<


**************************

	  Darius Songaila

	Class: Senior

	Hometown: Marijampole, Lithuania

	High School: New Hampton

	Height / Weight: 6-9 / 248

	Position: Forward

	Experience: 3VL

Pronounced DARE-e-us sun-GUY-la... an All-America and All-ACC candidate
for the Deacons... has consistently been one of the top performers in
the ACC during his three-year career... a powerful player who takes it
strong to the basket... possesses a soft shooting touch with range out
to the three-point arc (he made four three-pointers last season)... also
capable of challenging bigger opponents off the dribble... a battler
inside who doesnmt shy away from contact... plays with great
intensity... has gained much international playing experience the last
two years... in the summer of 2000, he was a member of Lithuaniams
bronze medal national team at the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia...
this past summer he again played for the Lithuanian national team in the
European Championships... will leave Wake Forest with his name firmly
printed in the Deacon record books... enters his senior season ranked
tied for 21st in career scoring with 1,252 points... ranks 24th in Wake
Forest career rebounding history with 537 boards... one of just 12
players in Wake Forest history with more than 1,200 points and 500
rebounds... ranks 10th in WFU career blocked shots history with 69...
has a chance to conclude career ranked among Wakems all-time leaders in
steals, free throws, free throw attempts, free throw percentage, games
played and games started... needs to stay out of foul trouble, which has
plagued him throughout his career... has scored in double figures 73
times in his career... has nine career double-doubles and 10 career
games scoring 20 points or more.

2000-01
Played in all 30 games, starting 29 (did not start on Senior Day)...
averaged 13.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, ranking second on the
team in both categories... ranked 15th in the ACC in scoring and 14th in
rebounding... scored in double figures 23 times... shot an even 50
percent from the floor, which would have ranked among the ACC leaders
had he had enough attempts to qualify... shot even better (51.6 percent)
in ACC games... led the team and ranked fourth in the ACC in free throw
percentage (.816)... led the team in free throws with 102 (125
attempts)... fouled out of five games and committed a team-high 98
personal fouls... his 22 blocked shots ranked third on the team...
ranked 14th in the ACC in blocked shots... recorded his first
double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds in a win over
S.C. State... rejected a career-high five shots in a home win over
Georgia... followed that performance with 18 points in a victory over
Radford... turned in perhaps the best game of his career Jan. 2 against
Virginia in the ACC opener... poured in a career-high 27 points on
11-of-12 shooting against the Cavaliers... registered a double-double
with 16 points and 11 boards and went 10-of-11 from the free throw line
in a road loss at Maryland... dished out a season-high five assists in a
home win versus Clemson... scored 18 points and went 10-of-11 from the
free throw line in an overtime loss at Cincinnati... poured in 24 points
on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 from the line in a 92-60
win at Clemson... scored 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting in the regular
season finale at NC State.

Summer, 2001
Represented Lithuania in the European Championships... played in four
games, helping his national team to a 2-2 record... joined on that team
by NBA players Arvydas Sabonis and Sarunas Jasikevicius.

Summer, 2000
Realized a dream when he earned a roster spot on the Lithuanian national
team in the Sydney Olympics... helped lead the team to a bronze medal
and to two near-upsets of USAms lDream Teamn... in two narrow losses to
the United States, including an 85-83 setback in the semifinals,
Songaila scored a combined 28 points including one 16-point effort...
his best outing in Sydney was a 19-point, 6-rebound game in a win over
China... Lithuania went 5-3 during the Games and Songaila averaged 9.6
points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

1999-00
Earned third team All-ACC honors... started the first eight games of the
season before suffering a sprained MCL in his right knee that caused him
to miss the Arkansas game... led the team in scoring (13.7 ppg.)...
averaged 16.6 ppg in ACC games to rank seventh in the league... led the
ACC in free throw percentage (83.5 percent)... in ACC games, he ranked
first in free throw accuracy (87.9 percent) and sixth in field goal
percentage (53.6 percent)... hit 54 of his last 60 free throw attempts
(90 percent)... scored 18 points in the NIT championship game against
Notre Dame... recorded his third double-double of the season with 12
points and 12 boards against New Mexico in the NIT... averaged 16.8 ppg
and 6.9 rpg over the teamms last 10 games... had a 14-point, 10-rebound
performance against Duke in the ACC Tournament... was a perfect 8-of-8
from the line in two ACC Tournament games... scored 22 points, went
14-of-14 from the line and grabbed nine rebounds against Virginia...
established a then career-high with 26 points against Georgia Tech...
had 25 points at Duke... scored 22 points and tied a then career-high
with 12 boards against Maryland... scored 18 points at Clemson... scored
16 points on 7-of-8 shooting against Final Four-bound Wisconsin... led
the team in scoring 14 times... played 30 or more minutes eight times...
made 33 consecutive free throws during one stretch before finally
missing against NC State in the NIT -- 10 short of Skip Brownms school
record.

1998-99
Started 24 times and played in 31 games as a rookie... led the Deacons
in field goal percentage (50.4 percent), free throw percentage (80.4
percent), steals (39) and blocked shots (21)V that free throw percentgae
mark also placed him seventh in the ACC in that categoryV ranked second
for WFU in both scoring (12.1 ppg.) and rebounding (5.3 rpg.)V scored in
double digits in 22 contests and was the team's top scorer nine timesV
played exceptionally well in two postseason dates, totaling a team-high
18 points (and 9 rebounds) in NIT win over Alabama, then adding 16
points and eight rebounds at XavierV posted season highs in points (23)
and rebounds (12) against ArkansasV also recorded double-doubles vs.
Mercer (14 points, 10 rebounds) and East Tennessee (15 points, 10
rebounds)V scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds against
Virginia... named ACC "Rookie of the Week" twice... made 64 of 70 free
throws (91 percent) over the final 14 games, and 48 of 51 (94 percent)
over the final 10 outingsV twice went 9-for-9 from the line in a single
game (vs. Clemson and at Georgia Tech) and made 23 straight charity
tosses at one point during the seasonV committed a then school-record
116 foulsV fouled out of eight games and picked up four fouls in 14
others.

High School
Honed his skills for one year at New Hampton Prep (NH), the same school
that sent former Deacon Rafael Vidaurreta to Wake Forest (the two were
never teammates there, however)V tutored there by coach Jamie ArsenaultV
averaged a double-double, producing 24 points and 11 rebounds per game
for the HuskiesV helped lead his 1998 team to a 22-5 record and the
runner-up spot in the competitive New England prep school leagueV named
to the all-league team.

Personal
Following his high school season, Songaila went on to compete on the
"World Team" in the prestigious Hoops Summit contest that was played in
San Antonio in the spring of 1998... profited greatly from a good deal
of international experience as a young playerV member of Lithuanian
junior national team in both 1996 and 1997, then competed on his native
country's 22-and-under squad which competed in the European
championships in the summer of 1998V grew up in Marijampole
(mar-rih-YAHM-po-lay), a city of 65,000 residents located about two
hours from the Lithuanian capital city of VilniusV in the summer of
2000, he flew from North Carolina to Lithuania (for training camp), then
to Spain (for a pre-Olympics tournament), to Sydney (for the Olympics),
back to Lithuania (for one day) and finally returned to Winston-Salem on
Oct. 5... the first member of his family ever to come to the United
StatesV hopes to earn his degree at Wake Forest while pursuing his dream
of playing professional basketball as well... did not make his
commitment until the spring of 1998 to conclude what was an outstanding
recruiting class for Wake ForestV says that he chose Wake Forest
lbecause of the good academics, the basketball and people care about
you,n Songaila said... lyou are not lost among 50,000 studentsn...
hobbies include hunting and fishing... says his best friend from another
team is Matas Ignatavicius of High Point... former high school teammates
Graham Bunn (Appalachian State), Brent Klassen (Bowling Green), Greg
Friel (Dartmouth), Mike Causey (Harvard) and Calier Draiton
(Northwestern) all went on to play Division I basketball... will
celebrate a birthday the day after Wake plays at Clemson on Feb. 13
(2/14/78)... says his best non-athletic talent is cooking... is engaged
to former Wake Forest womenms tennis standout Jackie Houston.

Favorite book: World by Garp
The first thing you would do if you were President of the United States:
retire
The person you would most like to trade places with for a day: Michael
Schumacher (Formula 1 driver)
Teammate who makes you laugh the hardest: Steve Lepore
The person who has most influenced your athletic career: My first coach
Gintautas Zibuda
Your most memorable moment in sports: Wining the bronze in the Olympics
and winning the NIT.
The best player you've ever played with or against: Arvydas Sabonis
The most difficult player you've defended: Tim Duncan
The first thing you thought when you first met Coach Prosser: he is very
demanding
Your biggest fear: not being able to play basketball
One thing you wish you were better at: English
The one possession you would keep if you lost all but one: Olympic
bronze medal
Something that most people don't know about you: I'm a nice guy
The title of your autobiography if you were to write one: Don't Try This
At Home
The person you would choose to be stranded on a deserted island with: my
fianceem Jackie Houston




Wake Forest University Men's Basketball

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