Youngstown -- Former YSU men's basketball player Vytas Sulskis has signed a contract to play professional basketball in his home country of Lithuania. Sulskis was signed by Zalgiris, but will be loaned out to Prienai.
Sulskis, who finished his career as YSU's 16th all-time leading scorer with 1,311 points, earned the Dom Rosselli Coaches Award for the team's most valuable player. He led the Guins in scoring with 392 points or 13.1 points per game and made 43 3-pointers. Sulskis also finished his career ranked second on the all-time 3-pointers made list with 179.
Sulskis, who was presented a commemorative basketball honoring the scoring of his 1,000th career point against Saint Francis (Pa.) on Nov. 27, 2010, also received the program's Scholar-Athlete Award with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.26.
"I am very happy that I made my dream come true to become a pro ball player," Sulskis said. "I want to thank my coaches and everyone who ever helped me to reach the place where I am now. Now I can represent the YSU Penguins in my homeland of Lithuania."
Sulskis is the 10th player for Head Coach Jerry Slocum that has signed a professional contract to play overseas. Others include Mikle Adams, John Barber, Kelvin Bright, Domonique Crawford, Byron Davis, Quin Humphrey, DeAndre Mays, Sirlester Martin and Mikko Niemi.
"We are really happy for Vytas to be able to continue his basketball career in his home country," Slocum said. "He meant a lot to our program. For him to graduate with his degree and pursue this professional opportunity means a great deal to us. We are all very proud of him."
