Kristupas Keinys (Klaipeda, Lithuania) will join the Gophers basketball program for the upcoming season. Keinys joins the Gopher freshman class of Kadyn Betts, Cam Christie and Erick Reader.

Keinys also visited and considered Loyola Marymount.

Our Darren ‘Doogie’ Wolfson spoke with Keinys, who’s back home in Lithuania awaiting a visa to come to Minnesota to join the team for summer workouts. He’s hopeful he’ll be here by late July or early August.

***Click the video box above to watch our conversation with Keinys***

“We’re happy to have Kristupas join our program and complete our 2023-24 roster,” coach Ben Johnson said in a statement. “Kristupas is long and athletic with a big upside. He’s a really tough, skilled athlete with a high basketball IQ. Kristupas loves the game, loves to compete and we’re looking forward to having his work ethic in our gym.”

Keinys, a 6-8, 185-pound forward most recently played with Klaipėdos Neptūnas-Akvaservis in his home country of Lithuania the past three seasons. In 2022-23, Keinys played 26 minutes per game in the National Basketball League (NKL), where he averaged 8.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists and 1.1 blocks in 38 games played. He also shot 42 percent from the field that season.

Keinys also played with Lithuania’s team at the FIBA U18 European Championship in 2022 where he averaged 4.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and shot 44 percent in 16 minutes played.

U of M sports information contributed to this story