Pocius crosses ocean to pursue hoop dreams

Before any Duke student had heard of Martynas Pocius, the Blue Devil recruiting class was already considered one of the best in the country, and as a result, little fanfare was given to Pocius' commitment last October.

Now that he has arrived, however, people are beginning to notice the young Lithuanian who teammates call "Marty."

"Marty has the chance to be outstanding," Duke assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "He has a terrific attitude. He just needs to keep getting better every day."

Pocius seems to fit the Duke mold perfectly. At 6-foot-4, the athletic freshman said he loves to run the floor, float around the perimeter and play above the rim.

But perhaps most fitting, in a program famous for its floor slapping, players and coaches praise Pocius for his enthusiasm.

"He's always going so fast," senior Lee Melchionni said. "I'm sure he's going to be great by the time he's done."

A native of Vilnius, Lithuania, Pocius (pronounced POTE-suess) came to America before his junior year of high school for the chance to play basketball in the United States. When he enrolled at the Holderness School in New Hampshire, he already spoke English, but was naA_ve about American culture.

Nevertheless, he knew that he wanted to go to a major American college to continue his playing career.

But Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his assistants had not yet contacted Pocius.

So when Gallagher asked him what his dream school would be, Pocius half-jokingly mentioned Duke.

"I said to Marty, 'Where do you want to go?" Gallagher said. "And he said, 'Well, do you think I could play at Duke?' I called Wojo the next day. He called back 20 minutes later and said they'd like to get involved."

Although Pocius was unfamiliar with many of the NCAA's major basketball programs, he had seen the Blue Devils on television before and the chance to play for Krzyzewski piqued his interest.

"He kept watching Duke games during his junior year," Gallagher said. "He got in trouble one time for missing check-in because he was watching a Duke game on ESPN2."

When the Blue Devils invited Pocius to take an official visit to Durham in October, he jumped at the chance.

"I didn't really know what to expect, so I just wanted to see everything," Pocius said. "I had a few visits scheduled, and I didn't really know what was waiting for me. The next weekend I took a visit to Duke and decided after that."Pocius committed to the Blue Devils immediately after his visit, allowing him to take his mind off recruiting and focus on improving his basketball game.

Gallagher cited Pocius' growing confidence as the major difference between his play in his junior and senior seasons. As a senior, Pocius became more involved in the offense and began converting his opportunities. He averaged 18 points, five rebounds and three assists his final year while leading Holderness to its second straight New England Prep School Class C title.

"He was so economical when he had the ball offensively," Gallagher said about Pocius' senior year. "He'd have 18 points on nine shots. We'd think the stat guy had missed him taking shots. There were games when he'd shoot 70 percent."

Now that he's at Duke, Pocius said he hopes to continue that efficiency and immerse himself in Krzyzewski's system.

"I'm the kind of player who loves to run the floor," the guard said. "But obviously, I have to focus on defense. Duke is based on defense."

All in all, does Pocius think he made the right choice attending a school 4,700 miles from his hometown of Vilnius?

"Hell yeah," he said.