Basketball
The University of Rhode Island’s second men’s basketball commitment of the week out of the transfer portal should offer some immediate frontcourt impact.
Matas Deniusas, the Rookie of the Year in the Ohio Valley Conference during his lone season at Tennessee Martin, pledged to the Rams through a post on his Instagram account Thursday afternoon.
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Deniusas is a 6-foot-9 forward who averaged 12.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 2025-26. He hit for double figures 24 times and netted at least 20 points three times, including 25 in a win over Charleston Southern. Deniusas closed sixth in his league in blocked shot percentage and connected at 33.6% from 3-point range, hitting multiple times from beyond the arc in 13 games.
Deniusas selected URI ahead of Atlantic 10 rival Richmond and Minnesota. He also held reported interest from George Mason, Seton Hall, Kansas State and more. Deniusas took a recent visit with the Rams and ultimately decided to spend the 2026-27 season in Kingston.
Matas Deniusas of the UT Martin Skyhawks shoots against Ladji Dembele of the UNLV Rebels in November. Deniusas has pledged to URI for the upcoming season.
Deniusas is a Lithuanian international who has represented his country at the U17 and U18 levels. His most recent tournament was the FIBA EuroBasket last summer, and Deniusas averaged 8.2 points and 4.8 rebounds over six games. He needed just 20 minutes to rack up 12 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots in an impressive outing against North Macedonia.
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Deniusas played professionally in his home country with BC Rytas Vilnius II, appearing in 41 games in the 2024-25 season. His eight double-figure outings included 17 points in his last playoff game, and Deniusas shot 36.8% from 3-point range. He elected to leave for the NCAA ranks and signed for a Skyhawks program that closed 22-11 overall and 13-7 in the OVC last season.
Deniusas counts a couple of international ties to URI. He’ll be teammates next season with Nedas Raupelis, a fellow frontcourt player from Lithuania, who will enroll as a freshman. The Rams also have recent connections with that nation through forward Gilvydas Biruta, who was a URI player under former coach Dan Hurley and staff member under current Rams coach Archie Miller.
Deniusas joins Towson guard Dylan Williamson in the URI transfer class. The Rams secured a commitment from the redshirt junior earlier this week, a perimeter scorer who should offer some experience outside. He was a double-digit scorer last season who collected 25 points in a nonconference win over URI.
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The Rams focused primarily on retention early this spring and were able to keep veterans Jonah Hinton, Jahmere Tripp and Mouhamed Sow. Jalen Harper, Barrett Loer and Javon Perry will all return after varying amounts of playing time during their freshman campaigns. Damone King and Moek Icke were the lone scholarship players who entered the portal, with King recently committing to Eastern Kentucky.
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Lithuanian forward Matas Deniusas commits to URI basketball
Read More Michele Center