STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford has bolstered its top-25 recruiting class with the signing of Lithuanian standout Lukas Kisunas.
"Lukas is a tough, hard-nosed player with a great feel for the game," said Jerod Haase, Stanford's Anne and Tony Joseph Director of Men's Basketball. "He utilizes his hands and feet really well in the paint and has developed a strong post presence. Lukas is a true Stanford guy and we are excited to welcome him to The Farm."
Kisunas, a 6-9, 245-pound center, is a native of Vilnius, Lithuania. He played scholastically the last two seasons at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. A four-star prospect, Kisunas is rated the fifth-best overall prospect out of Lithuania and one of the top centers in the 2018 class.
Kisunas becomes the fourth member of Stanford's 2018 class, joining nationally-ranked signees Bryce Wills (6-6, 190-pound guard from White Plains, N.Y.), Cormac Ryan (6-5, 180-pound guard from New York, N.Y.) and Keenan Fitzmorris (7-0, 210-pound center from Overland Park, Kan.). The Cardinal's 2018 class was already ranked No. 22 nationally by Scout, No. 27 by 247Sports and No. 39 by Rivals and is expected to move up with the addition of Kisunas. The class follows a 2017 recruiting class that ranked eighth nationally by 247Sports and 11th by Rivals.
The center is a consensus top-25 prospect at his position and is the top-ranked prospect in the state of New Hampshire by ESPN. He is rated as the No. 25 center in the 2018 class and the fifth-best prospect in Lithuania by 247Sports.
In two seasons as a starter at Brewster Academy, Kisunas guided the Bobcats to a 60-6 record and a National Prep Championship. He averaged 8.5 points and 7.0 rebounds as a senior at Brewster, which captured back-to-back New England Preparatory School Athletic Council Class AAA regular-season titles with Kisunas in the lineup. As a junior, the center helped lead the Bobcats to an undefeated 33-0 record and the 2017 National Prep Championship, averaging eight points and seven rebounds per contest.
Kisunas competed for Lithuania at the 2017 FIBA Under-18 Division A European Championships, guiding his native country to a third-place finish at the event in Slovakia this past August. Kisunas averaged nearly nine points and seven rebounds per game in the tournament, including an 18-point, 13-rebound performance in 21 minutes in a semifinal matchup against gold medalist Serbia.
Kisunas, Wills, Ryan and Fitzmorris are expected to enroll at Stanford this summer. The four will join a Stanford team that is coming off a 19-win season in which the Cardinal, in Haase's second season at the helm, finished third in the Pac-12 for its highest finish and most conference victories (11) in 10 seasons.
