Vincas Buzelis is serious on the court and serious about joining his brother in the NBA

By Jeff Vorva

Above: Vincas Buzelis receives a hug from Bob Hardy after he wins the Justin Hardy MVP Award. Photos by Jeff Vorva

Vincas Buzelis is asked quite a bit about his brother. And he doesn’t mind it. Vincas is two years younger than his brother, Matas, who is a rookie with the Chicago Bulls.

“I’m always proud of him,” he said. “Anything he does, I’m proud of. Before my season, I was able to go to almost every one of his games.”

Growing up, the two would go at it hard in the front yard, Vincas said. And in open gyms with the Full Package AAU program, he would request to be paired up against Matas.

“I would say, put me on him – I’m guarding him,” Vincas said. “It doesn’t really matter. It’s open gym. No cameras. I just want to be the best player I can be. If I’m being honest, I didn’t get the best of him a lot of times. Sometimes I could score on him a little bit, but now I’m starting to get a lot better, and my shot is getting better. I’m getting a lot more athletic. It was getting difficult for him.”

The two stopped playing because Vincas said there was no reason to risk injuries.

Matas played just one year at Hinsdale Central before playing in New Hampshire and Kansas after COVID-19 hit and went to the NBA G League.

Vincas, a senior, is dazzling the area with his play.

He is the leader of a Hinsdale Central squad that was 24-2 through Feb. 6, including winning the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic in December. Buzelis was named the tournament’s MVP. Dillon Orozco joined him on the All-Tournament team. Buzelis had a 40-point performance in the semifinals as the Red Devils beat Niles North 78-77. He added a team-best 18 points in a 52-51 win over Brother Rice for the title.

While he was all smiles and laughing it up after that tournament, he is very serious on the court.

“I’m all business,” Buzelis said. “When it comes to competing – anyone who is in front of me I want to kill. That’s my purpose. They are trying to take my job, and I’m trying to take their job. I’m trying to provide for my family, and they are trying to provide for their family.”

He said he had his game face since he was a swimmer when he was seven.“I hated everyone against me,” he said.

Interestingly, swimming led to basketball in an odd way. He was swimming in Indianapolis and received a call from Full Package coaches who were in town and needed an extra player.

“I scored 20 points and never turned back,” he said.

Red Devils coach Nick Latorre doesn’t view Vincas as Mata’s younger brother. The coach looks at him as a player who puts in his time to be great.

“He works really hard at his game,” Latorre said of Buzelis. “You know all of the successes he is having is because of how hard he works. He works exceptionally hard. He does the necessary training and puts in extra time with the machines and weights. What you’re seeing is the result of hundreds of hours of work effort and for stuff that he does on his own.”

Buzelis’s long-range goal is the NBA, like his brother. But aside from that, he doesn’t think too far ahead.
“I don’t think about the next game or the next quarter,” he said. “I just think about the next possession. If I’m on defense, I want to get a stop. If I’m on offense, I want the team to score.”

Matas shot up from 6-foot-3 as a high school freshman to 6-10 as an NBA player.

Vincas is listed at 6-foot-5. Will there be any more growth in his future?

“I don’t really know, and I don’t really care,” he said. “I just want to hoop. If teams don’t like me because of my height, it’s their fault. I’m a dog, and I’m just going to go out there and play.”

He has committed to the University of South Dakota, and that school’s coaches watched him while he was playing for Full Package in Wisconsin.

“They didn’t think they could get me,” he said. “But a couple of months later, they offered me, and I came to visit. It was a great facility. Great coaches. Great program.

“The coaches are like a family. They joke a lot, but it’s strictly business on the court. That’s what I love.”

Vincas Buzelis (No. 4), usually serious during games, laughs with his teammates after Hinsdale Central won its holiday tournament in December. Photos by Jeff Vorva