Pink soup, basketball and family: Krivas and Jarusevicius excited for return to Lithuania

“ARIZONOS LIETUVIAI,” (Lithuanians of Arizona), it trumpeted, noting how both Arizona and Michigan will face its national teams later this month.

Below those words: Mostly jubilant photos of former Wildcats Azoulas and Tautvilas Tubelis, current Wildcats Motiejus Krivas and Ugnius Jarusevicius — and even former UA forward Paulius Murauskas, now of ASU — all wearing Arizona uniforms.

In a country obsessed with basketball, its national team and its NBA players, maybe it was a sign the Wildcats are also making traction.

Maybe. Or maybe not.

“I think the news that Bryce is coming is more” of a big deal, Krivas said with a smile Friday.

Spoken during a news conference Friday at McKale Center in which he and Jarusevicius discussed their return home next week, Krivas' remark generated laughter, of course, because it is well known that reserve guard Bryce James is actually the Wildcats’ most famous player on a worldwide basis.

But the fact that Arizona has now had five Lithuanians wear its uniform over the past four seasons — and have also added Montenegrin wing Maxsim Brnovic, who played for a prominent Lithuanian junior club last season — does give them a certain cachet in the Baltic country.

“I think people from here would be shocked to know how many people in Lithuania know what the University of Arizona is and how good University Arizona basketball is,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said last week. “Anytime we can go out and kind of broadcast that message to the world, it's a really cool thing.”

In any case, this much was undisputably true: Krivas and Jarusevicius expressed excitement on their somewhat unexpected return home next week.

A three-year veteran of the UA program, Krivas said Lloyd had discussed taking the Wildcats on an exhibition trip to Lithuania earlier in his career, but it did not work out.

The Wildcats instead went to Israel and the United Arab Emirates in August 2023 and that was supposed to be it for a while, since the NCAA allowed foreign exhibition tours only once every four years.

But the rule was changed this spring to allow teams to go any year they want, and the choice for Arizona was obvious: The Wildcats immediately jumped into planning a trip to Lithuania.

After practicing and touring for five days, including a day trip to hang with Lithuanian basketball legend Arvydas Sabonis, the Wildcats will face the Lithuanian national "B" team on Aug. 19, the Ukrainian national team on Aug. 20 and the Lithuanian senior team on Aug. 22.

“Not every player, especially Europeans, can say that they're going back to their country to play against their national teams,” Krivas said. “It's really fun.”

For Jarusevicius, the trip was another bonus for his commitment to Arizona. His transfer to Arizona was announced in May just as the Wildcats had begun early planning for the trip, which will actually conclude with the game against the Lithuanian national team (and Azuolas Tubelis) in Jarusevicius’ hometown of Alytus, a town of about 50,000 located 65 miles from the capital of Vilnius.

“It's amazing,” Jarusevicius said. “It's like a full circle moment. My parents never guessed that I'm playing in the states for a college team and they're gonna see me play back home, especially in my hometown. It's a great opportunity, and it's definitely a blessing.”

The games will also mark a personal milestone for Jarusevicius: They’ll be the first he has played in since his season ended due to back issues after just one appearance early last season for Nebraska.

“Everything started in August” last year, Jarusevicius said. “Had my first flare up, and then basically it was just load management, and that didn't really work out. Had another flare-up after I think the game. It was just tough. It was hard to manage.”

But Jarusevicius said he’s been cleared to play since leaving Nebraska in May. He said he went home to renew his visa, then arrived in Tucson and has been working out with the Wildcats since then.

Even though Jarusevicius speaks excellent fluent English, he doesn’t need to when hanging out with Krivas off the court — or facing him on it. Jarusevicius said he and Krivas speak Lithuanian except when in the presence of other teammates — and kept it largely private when asked if there have been any, um, other Lithuanian words exchanged when they battle each other in the post.

“Maybe,” Jarusevicius said, smiling.

Together, Krivas and Jarusevicius will have a chance to translate and be tour guides for their teammates this month. The Wildcats are scheduled to leave on Aug. 13, then base in Vilnius while practicing and touring for five days before moving to Kaunas and playing games in and around that city.

But aside from the basketball, the sights and the people, both Jarusevicius and Krivas said they mostly want to show their teammates the food.

Especially, Krivas said, the iconic Lithuanian “pink soup,” a strikingly colorful version of cold beet soup that includes kefir, cucumbers, dill and hard-boiled eggs.

“I don’t think anybody has heard of it but it’s really good,” Krivas said. “When it’s hot in the summer, it’s (helpful) to cool down.”

They may have to convince their teammates of that benefit, however.

And of other dishes they grew up loving.

“It's the food,” Jarusevicius said. “If you’ve been here the whole year round, you really miss the food. I feel like the guys are gonna like it. But it’s gonna be different.”