Humble and hungry, Rokas Jocys is staying ready for larger role at Manhattan

Rokas Jocys (first player from left) is mobbed after game-winning shot against Mount St. Mary’s on December 1. (Photo by Vincent Dusovic/Manhattan College Athletics)

By Pete Janny (@pete_janny)

With one shot, Rokas Jocys became a household name among Manhattan College basketball fans.

Having shown off elite range already, Jocys, a  native of Lithuania, is now looking to carve out a larger role on a Manhattan team in need of a spark.

 

Jocys earned the praises of many with his game-winning trey to defeat Mount St. Mary’s, 75-74, with five seconds left in overtime on December 1, as Manhattan head coach John Gallagher drew up a masterful sidelines out of bounds play that saw Jocys curl around an off-ball screen to be freed up in the corner. The Mount’s Josh Reaves made a good defensive attempt, but it was better offense from Jocys.

“He even drew up the game-winning play for me which shows how much he trusts me, even though I'm a freshman,” Jocys said about Gallagher.  “He told me, ‘I trust you and knock it down.’”

Although that was his first real signature shot, the truth is that Jocys has been a bona fide weapon for Manhattan from downtown this season. He leads the team with a 41 percent conversion, hitting on 13 of 32 attempts through nine games. Jocys has been especially hot of late, connecting on 12 of his last 25 long-distance looks.

Shooting is Jocys’ biggest strength and there is no denying that. However, a full evaluation of Jocys’ shows a playmaker who can drive and dish for his teammates, while showcasing a special knack for making reads. Jocys has had a pair of assists in four games this season, and will remain a candidate to step up in that department since point guard Brett Rumpel is sidelined for the rest of the year with an ACL tear. The challenge for Gallagher right now is finding success with new lineups due to the injury bug.

As Daniel Rouzan recovers from an appendectomy, further compounding the Jaspers’ concerns after losing Rumpel, Gallagher has said he will look to increase Jocys’ minutes, having reiterated that he is Manhattan’s best outside shooter.

“He has to play 22-25 (minutes),” Gallagher said about Jocys. “He’s elite at a lot of things.”

The freshman hurdles are usually conspicuous for every first-year player, and Jocys is no different. He will need to prove he can be effective on both ends of the court, while stringing together consistent stretches of play that will make it hard for Gallagher to pull him.

What stands out about Jocys besides his innate abilities is his family’s basketball pedigree. Being from Lithuania, Jocys grew up with basketball being a religion of sorts, given how much the game has grown in the former USSR satellite since the days of star players like Arvydas Sabonis and Sarunas Marciulionis.

“I think talking about basketball heroes, every single Lithuanian would say Sabonis because when you start playing basketball, that's the first name you hear,” Jocys said. “He’s a legend here and one of the best players to have ever played this game.”

Jocys isn’t the only member of his family putting them on the map, either. His young sister, Justė Jocytė, is 18 years old and currently plays for LDLC ASVEL Féminin in France’s top league, a team whose majority owner is former San Antonio Spurs star and Hall of Famer Tony Parker. Having honed her craft alongside her older brother, Jocytė has thrived her whole life playing against older competition. She appeared with the Lithuanian senior national team at only 13 years old. At 14, Jocytė made history as the youngest player to appear in EuroLeague competition.

“Lithuania hasn’t seen a women's player who can ball like her in a long time,” Jocys says of his sister. “So I hope she can lead Lithuania's women's basketball to the top.”

Jocys noted his sister’s impressive experiences playing at the top flight of European basketball already and how that could put her on pace to be the number one pick in the 2027 WNBA Draft. Jocyte’s credentials also include helping Lithuania win silver at the 2019 FIBA U16 Women’s European Championship and gold at the 2022 FIBA U18 Women’s European Championship.

“My sister has a bright future,” Jocys also said. “She is still very young.”

The hoops legacy dates back to Jocys’ father, Alvydas, who in the 1990s, played at  Mid-Plains Community College and later for Bellevue University in Nebraska; and his uncle, Evaldas, who played part of his college career at East Carolina. Both went back to Europe to play professionally once their eligibility ended.

“A lot of injuries finished his basketball career,” Jocys said of his father. “Now he works at Lithuania’s basketball federation, where he does a really good job. I’m proud of him.”

Jocys admits it has been an adjustment adapting to the college game and that he wasn’t sure if would be the right fit. Part of the cooling process for Jocys has rested on Gallagher’s belief in his freshmen, as well as the growing evidence that suggests the sharpshooter should be on the court more for the Jaspers, who return to action against Monmouth on December 21 in West Long Branch.

“I feel I can offer more for the team than being just a shooter,” Jocys said. “I might not be the fastest or most athletic guy, but every single time I play IQ basketball, it helps me to read the court in two-man game situations and find open shots for my teammates.”