Mikalauskas out, Soroye in

Directly in front of the entrance to the Virginia men’s basketball team’s locker room is a giant mural from one of the most memorable games of the Dave Leitao era.
In the mural, former UVa star Sean Singletary can be seen jumping into the arms of teammate Lars Mikalauskas shortly after the Cavaliers’ scintillating upset win over Arizona in the first-ever game at John Paul Jones Arena.
The joy on Mikalauskas’ face as he lifted Singletary high into the air will undoubtedly be one of Virginia fans’ lasting images of him.
On Monday evening, UVa coach Dave Leitao officially issued the lovable Lithuanian his walking papers.
In a terse two-sentence statement, Leitao announced that Mikalauskas — likely his starting center — would no longer be a member of the Virginia team.
“There are standards to be a member of this basketball program and Laurynas has not lived up to those standards,” said Leitao, while announcing that Tunji Soroye would be back (on scholarship) for a fifth season. “I will have no additional comment on the situation.”
Mikalauskas, who was home on summer vacation in Lithuania, could not be reached for comment.
Several sources close to the situation told The Daily Progress that Mikalauskas’ teammates were extremely upset by the news.
The loss of one of the team’s most popular players — and one of just two seniors on the roster (Mamadi Diane) — was met with shock by the Virginia basketball community.
One fan message board had over 100 posts within the first hour of Leitao’s announcement.
The news took former UVa forward Will Harris by total surprise.
“Wow. Man, that’s crazy,” said Harris, who announced this week that he is transferring to Albany. “I’m shocked. I would never have suspected something like that.
“Coach Leitao has a strong personality and sometimes…wow. I would never have expected this.”
When reached by phone, Bill Ramsey, Mikalauskas’ former coach at the Blue Ridge School, declined comment.
Mikalauskas, known as “The Pride of Lithuania,” was one of the main reasons Virginia didn’t finish last in the ACC last season. His gutsy return from a painful shoulder injury — one that would require major offseason surgery —breathed life into a team that had been comatose in the majority of its games.

After sitting out 12 games, the 6-foot-8, 245-pounder came back strong against North Carolina. Mikalauskas immediately drew an offensive foul on All-American Tyler Hansbrough — a player he defended as well as anyone in the nation during his three years. While lying on his back, Mikalauskas began pumping his fists wildly as the JPJ crowd went bonkers.
“He played hard every night and always got the fans into the game,” Harris added. “He played for the fans. I think that’s why the fans loved him so much.”
While suffering from a bad stomach flu, Mikalauskas scored a season-high 16 points and 13 rebounds in a late-season loss at Miami, then had 15 points and seven rebounds in a win at Georgia Tech.
“It was like I told the newspaper,” said Mikalauskas, during a television interview with commentator Dan Bonner following the victory over the Yellow Jackets, “somebody had to pay.”
It was those types of comments, made with a thick Lithuanian accent, that seemed to endear Mikalauskas to Wahoo Nation.
Ask just about any Virginia fan who their favorite player — other than Singletary — has been over the course of the last three years and they would likely say Mikalauskas.
For the last two seasons, one fan at JPJ sat in the student section with a sign. On the front, it read “Put Lars in.” On the back, it said, “Leave Lars in.”
But now Lars is out for good.
 
Dunks
The departure of Mikalauskas means that Virginia will likely have an additional scholarship at its disposal that could be awarded to walk-on Calvin Baker…Harris, citing playing-time issues, said leaving the program was a tough decision. “I thought about it for weeks – three or four weeks before I actually did it,” he said. “But for the betterment of myself and our family – for our futures – it was something that I felt I had to do.”