When Texas Longhorns head coach Sean Miller is asked about rising junior center Matas Vokietaitis, there’s one reliable anecdote Miller often falls back on to describe the 7’0, 255-pounder.
When Miller was at Arizona and the late, great Bill Walton was around, Walton liked to remind Miller that big men come in two categories — those who play the game because they’re taller than everyone else and that’s what people told them to do, and those who play the game because the love it, a binary perspective perhaps influenced by Walton’s own growth spurt from 6’1 to 6’7 between his sophomore and junior years of high school.
Advertisement
“What I would say with Matas, if he were 6’2, he would play basketball, like, he loves it, and that’s a real gift for a seven-footer, and you can see it in his work ethic every day,” Miller said in November.
It’s a story that Miller recounted during a Monday appearance on the Field of 68 after host Jeff Goodman apologized for previously calling Vokietaitis “the dirtiest player in college basketball” for his frequent hook and holds, going on to recall a story told to him about Vokietaitis picking up 10 technical fouls the season before coming to the United States to play at Florida Atlantic.
Goodman asked the Texas head coach what it’s like coaching Vokitaitis, prompting the Walton anecdote and a note about the six-percent body fat of Vokietatis before addressing the issues with managing his style of play.
“Once you get in the game, he is incredibly physical and then he has the next level, where sometimes that physicality can get away from him,” Miller said.
Advertisement
In getting to the free-throw line 7.9 times per game, Vokietaitis got drew fouls at a high rate as a sophomore — as often as former Purdue standout Zach Edey in his senior season, Miller noted — but also dished out a lot of punishment to opponents, ultimately leading the SEC in fouls while averaging 5.3 fouls per 40 minutes and getting whistled for five technical fouls and one flagrant foul.
“One of the things we’re trying to teach Matas is you don’t want the spotlight to be on you on every play, you just have to pick and choose your your battles, and your physicality can be a gift. Don’t weaponize it every time, don’t be in the fray every time,” Miller said.
More consistently staying out of foul trouble would allow Vokietaitis to better take advantage of his superb conditioning with more playing time than the 26 minutes per game he averaged in 2025-26.
Along with other areas for improvement like the consistency of his free-throw shooting, finishing with his right hand around the rim, and becoming a better defensive rebounder, Vokietaitis has untapped upside that his work ethic can unlock if his emotional maturity and discipline can match it after averaging 15.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
Advertisement
“I believe if he can make some growth in [fouling less], and also just become a little bit better defensively — and part of him being better defensively is not fouling, protecting the rim in a smarter way — I have no doubt he’ll be one of America’s best players,” Miller said.
