Auburn’s international haul is finally on campus, and one of the newest Tigers is already drawing a familiar comparison.
French center Narcisse Ngoy arrived several days ago, while Lithuanian wing Mantas Rubstavicius got to the Plains last week, giving Steven Pearl the two overseas additions he’s been waiting on as the program looks to address last season’s issues in the paint. The duo stands among Auburn’s tallest new pieces, part of a clear push to get bigger and sturdier inside.
Rubstavicius, a 6-foot-7 wing who weighs 202 pounds, committed to Auburn in May but didn’t officially sign or report until after his season with Zalgiris in the Euro League ended. Pearl sees a lot in him that reminds him of Chad Baker-Mazara, the former Auburn wing who brought shot-making and versatility to the floor.
"He's going to have a lot of similarities to Chad (Baker-Mazara) as far as the way he plays - his ability to shoot the ball, and his ability to play out of ball screens," Pearl said, per Auburn Undercover. "There's not a lot of 3 men that can do both.
That's one thing Mantas will really bring to the table. He's rangy defensively.
He's not a crazy athlete but I think he's got really good instincts, and he understands how to make plays at the right time."
The hope, naturally, is that the comparison stops at the basketball. Baker-Mazara was a fan favorite despite getting tossed from Auburn’s first March Madness game against Yale two years ago, a loss the Tigers couldn’t recover from. The relationship with the Auburn Family cooled after he transferred to USC and later left that team before the season ended.
Rubstavicius arrives with a resume that already stretches back to 2018, when he began his professional career in Lithuania. He later spent the 2023-24 season in Australia’s National Basketball League, then attended the NBA G League Elite Camp in 2024 and played Summer League for the Golden State Warriors.
Auburn basketball is set to take the Fourth of July week off before returning to summer work. Pearl said he’s eager to see how the two newcomers settle in.
"I'm excited to see how (Rubstavicius and Ngoy) fit in next week," Pearl said. All we've seen is them come in on their own and do their own work while they're getting cleared. Excited to see how quickly they're able to gel, pick up the system and get incorporated moving forward."
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