OKINAWA.
The den of the wolf gang Miro Little I finished the World Championships in style. Little served no less than nine basket-leading assists against Venezuela. With their win, Finland secured an Olympic qualifying spot for next summer.
Before the match, Urheilu met one of Little’s coaches for next season, the associate head coach of top university Baylor By John Yakus.
– The world can sometimes be critical when playing in big arenas. But if we look at the basic starting point, Miro is 19 years old and is in the starting five in the World Cup team. It’s incredible, says Jakus about his new player’s performances at the World Cup.
The Baylor coach reminds that there are only five players from Little’s age group, born in 2004, in the World Cup.
– How many of them are in the starting five? The coaches of the Finnish national team have done a wonderful job this summer. They have kept their word. Miro not only starts, but he has also supported the team with his own contribution. Miro is growing all the time. In the end, growth is the biggest thing, Jakus reminds.
After a challenging high school year, the national team summer is good
Jakus was watching Susijeng’s World Cup play-offs together with another member of the Baylor coaching team, who holds the title of Director of Recruiting Operations by Jason Smith with.
Baylor won the college championship in the spring of 2021.
Little announced his commitment to Baylor in the season following the championship, in the spring of 2022. He had also visited Indiana and Villanova at the beginning of the year, but chose the university in Waco, Texas. At the time, Little said that he would start university now in the fall of 2023.
Last season Little already played in the USA. He spent his last year of high school in the United States and played for Sunrise Christian Academy, which was ranked eighth in the United States nationally. Little has openly admitted in various interviews how the beginning behind the rapako was challenging.
– Each player (in the United States) looks at his own throw first. At the offensive end, they are selfish, while in Europe they are used to selflessness. The US is the opposite. It can be seen especially in the early season, when everyone doesn’t know each other so well, Little stated for example to Sanoma.
According to Sanoma, the teammates had initially taken Little in their tongs and tested him.
– It didn’t take long for me to answer the call. Orientation and hard blows. I had to show that I like contact and my teammates noticed it, Little said.
Jakus, who is starting his seventh season on Baylor’s coaching staff, sees many different aspects of Little’s high school season.
– There (in high school) they played a slightly different game. We played more one-on-one. There were fewer figures from ball screen situations. However, everything has its value. Miro certainly saw what it’s like in the US, and hopefully that will help in the transition to college games.
However, he wants to remind you that at Baylor, the beauty of the European game is appreciated.
– Although the high school experience was certainly good for Miro, coming home now has certainly been a good thing, Jakus says and refers to the games in the national team.
Baylor is only third after the player and the national team
The attitude of American universities to national team games made headlines in Finland when Olivier Nkamhoua didn’t play in the European Championships last year after going to the University of Tennessee after the World Cup qualifiers.
Jakus reminds us that a player like Little will only spend a couple of years of his basketball career at Baylor. According to the American pilot, Susijengi’s full-back talent will spend 10–15 years in the national team. That’s why he considers it important to keep in touch with the Basketball Association and Susijeng.
– If you recruit a player from outside the United States, you must work with the local association. We want the union to believe that it is not about us. It’s about the player, then the national team second and then us last. We are here to serve Miro, Jakus swears.
Jakus says that Baylor wants to be involved in three events in the lives of its players. One is when they get an NBA reservation, one is getting married and one is the first times in the starting five at the World Cup.
Baylor wants to bring Little to the NBA
19-year-old Little already visited Baylor before the start of the WC camp and spent three weeks with his future basketball team.
Jakus speaks promisingly about Little’s role in the upcoming season at Baylor.
– When we won the championship, we had two playmakers at the start. Actually, the third player was also the playmaker. Baylor’s best version has three playmakers on the court. Miro is a playmaker. We recruited him from HBA (Helsinki Basketball Academy) because of his playmaking skills. Because of how he reads the game and plays ball screen situations.
According to the coach, that’s exactly the type of player Baylor needed last season.
– Although we need him to make baskets, we also need Miro to bring the beautiful European game to Baylor. Our goal is for him to have the ball in his hands so he can make others better.
Little rose to 18th-25th in the US ranking of high school players last year. as the best player.
Little has spoken openly about his NBA goal in numerous interviews with different media. Urheilu asked a member of Baylor’s successful coaching team for an assessment of Little’s NBA potential.
– Baylor has always done a good job with the number of NBA bookings. Baylor is the only university that has had three reservations in the top 16 in the last three years, Jakus first lists the merits of his university.
In 2021, the Sacramento Kings took the 9th pick in the reserve round Davion Mitchell’s and in 2022 the San Antonio Spurs representing Poland with the same number by Jeremy Sochan. This summer Lauri Markkanen The Utah Jazz booked in the 16th round Keyonte George. All of them are also rear men.
– When it’s a back man and also a player from abroad, we know we can do something. After all, the player does the work, says Jakus.
Jakus is careful not to set any kind of expectations for Little, but instead emphasizes a lot of work ahead and the development of the player.
– This will be a one- or two-year process, it is not smart to set any limits or expectations for Miro. If he didn’t have NBA potential, you wouldn’t be asking me this, and Miro wouldn’t be in the starting five at the World Cup. The NBA or the Euroleague are certainly options for him in the future. We’ve been talking about this since we met him. We’re not shy about it. We want him to achieve that goal.