Domantas Sabonis

Domantas Sabonis was born in Portland, Oregon in 1996 while his father Arvydas was playing for the Trail Blazers. Domantas started his professional career as a 16-year-old in Spain and later in Greece, but he never signed a contract with a salary in order to maintain his amateur status for the NCAA, which led to two seasons of ball at Gonzaga University. After appearing in numerous FIBA youth tournaments, Sabonis debuted for the Lituanian national team in 2015. By competing against Australia, he became the all-time youngest Lithuanian to debut in a game representing the primary men's national team. He was also a member of the Lithuanian team at EuroBasket 2015 and the 2016 Olympics. Fans can follow Sabonis on Instagram and Twitter (@Dsabonis11). Domantas Sabonis started his pre-NBA career in Spain, playing 35 games for Unicaja Malaga, averaging 2.7 points and 2.2 rebounds per contest for the Spanish outfit while maintaining his amateur status. Sabonis then moved to the United States, where he played two years (2014-2016) of collegiate basketball for Gonzaga University. Sabonis immediately stepped into an important role in his first year at Gonzaga, averaging 9.7 points and 7.1 rebounds while coming off the bench in all but one of the 38 games he appeared. Sabonis entered the next season on the Wooden Award Preseason watch list. He justified the hype by averaging 17.6 points and 11.8 rebounds in 38 games for the Zags, 31 of them starts. In recognition of his efforts, Sabonis earned All-West Coast Conference and NABC All-District First Team honors. He was named an AP Honorable Mention All-American and became an NCAA All-Tournament Midwest Region selection. Sabonis left Gonzaga after his sophomore season with the highest field goal percentage (.632) in school history.