Jasiulionis headed to the Big East

6-foot-11 240 pound Lithuanian center Tomas Jasiulionis is officially off the board. After taking four official campus visits this fall Jasiulionis ended his recruitment by choosing a Big East school.

Jasiulionis has chosen head coach Norm Roberts' St. John's Red Storm over Clemson, St. Bonaventure, and William and Mary.

Rivals.com spoke with head coach Mike Lokie of Trinity Episcopal School in Richmond, VA Thursday evening and he provided some insight into Tomas' decision.

"He had a really good campus visit to St. John's on October 22nd," Lokie said. "He had the chance to spend some time with the team and the coaching staff, and he really liked the campus. He just had a really good feeling there and felt like he connected with the coaches."

Jasiulionis visited St. Bonaventure and William and Mary before visiting St. John's, and he took an official visit to Clemson last weekend. He had scholarship offers from all four schools.

"St. John's and St. Bonaventure had been on him since early June, and William and Mary entered the picture in late June," Lokie explained. "Clemson got in a little bit later. I've taken calls this fall from schools like Ohio State, Florida State, James Madison, and some Ivy League programs.

"The schools he considered were from building conferences and for the most part had new coaches in place," Lokie said. "He wanted to go someplace where he'd have the opportunity to play early, and more importantly a chance to play through his mistakes."

Jasiulionis arrived in the USA two years ago as a 6-foot-9 205 pound perimeter player. Lokie calls him a "late bloomer", and says that his skills have really developed recently.

"He put the weight on in just the last year. He went home for 4 weeks in June and he was bigger when he came back. When he went out and played in July with Team Richmond coaches couldn't believe how much he'd improved," Lokie gushed. "He runs the floor, shoots the perimeter jumper, and he's a great passer. That's what really came through in AAU competition, how unselfish he was."

He averaged 15 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 5 blocks per game last season for Trinity, while playing mostly on the low blocks. He had a high game of 32 points.

"I plan to open things up a little for him this season," said Lokie. "I'll let him play more on the perimeter and try to get him to look for his shot more often."

Jasiulionis is a very good student who speaks several languages.

"He's a bright kid," Lokie said. "But most of all he's a great person. After meeting him and talking to him every coach told me that they just had to have him. Tomas told me that the hardest thing he's had to do was to tell the other three schools he wasn't coming."

Jasiulionis played very well at the Southern Invitational at the University of Virginia in May. Rivals.com loves his upside and his skills will be put to good use in coach Roberts' offense. He'll need to get stronger and be more aggressive to compete in the Big East, but he has vast potential.

Jasiulionis is St. John's 4th recruit in the Class of 2005. He joins 6-foot-9 JUCO C/F Aaron Spears, 6-foot-5 2G Ricky Torres, and 6-foot-7 forward Anthony Mason, Jr. St. John's will now focus on 6-foot-3 guard Levance Fields. Fields is down to St. John's and Pittsburgh, and looks to be planning to announce his decision on November 10th.