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Rytis Petraitis, a 6-foot-7 senior forward transfer from Cal, who was a Lobo killer at Air Force for the first two seasons of his college career, announced in April he was joining the Lobos for his final season of college.

The 24-year-old fifth-year player (he redshirted after a hip injury this past season at Cal), is a much-needed veteran presence on a roster largely reliant on freshmen and sophomores.

The Journal reached out to Petraitis recently to ask a few introductory questions. The following are his answers via a text exchange.

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JOURNAL: First is the same thing I pretty much ask everyone. What about coach Eric Olen's system made you want to play for the UNM Lobos?

PETRAITIS: Coach Olen鈥檚 system is special. It鈥檚 not your typical 1v1 basketball, it鈥檚 a lot of ball movement and cutting, which is exactly what I was looking for. I believe that鈥檚 the type of offense I succeed in and, in my opinion, it was a no-brainer when Coach contacted me. He had proven himself a winner and I want to win and make the NCAA Tournament.

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JOURNAL: What was the injury and how healthy are you as you hit summer?

PETRAITIS: I had a hip injury that I needed surgery for from my past season playing at Cal, but currently I am on pace and doing really well. No lingering pain or discomfort. I am happy to say that this surgery was a success and that I will be good as new!

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JOURNAL: Two parter on that game in the Pit on Feb. 24, 2024. First, what are your memories of that shot and of that win for a program (Air Force) that has had very few wins in the Pit in program history?

PETRAITIS: It was honestly one of the best college memories I鈥檝e ever experienced. It鈥檚 a kids dream to make a game winning shot against a tournament team at their home court. I just remember getting the ball at the top of the key, looking at the basket and seeing an opportunity to fulfill that dream. As soon as it went in I knew that I will never forget it. Also, doing it at one of the most amazing venues in the country made it that much better.

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JOURNAL: Second part, do you have any idea how many Lobo hearts you broke that day!?

PETRAITIS: I do know that I broke many Lobo hearts that day and I鈥檝e definitely heard it from the fan base since I鈥檝e been here, but in my opinion the most important thing is that I am now wearing that cherry and silver and it鈥檚 time to make an unforgettable memory here. I want to be remembered for a championship that will last forever, not just a shot that I made.

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JOURNAL: Any idea what you might want to study at UNM? Any thoughts on what you might want to do one day when basketball is over?

PETRAITIS: I am pursuing my MBA here at University of New Mexico. Ideally I wanna play basketball for as long as I can. But once my playing days are over, I want to be a entrepreneur and create my own company or use my Berkeley Engineering degree and work for a big company like Apple, Google, or Nvidia as an engineer.

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JOURNAL: Who wins one-on-one: You or CJ Noland? (Former Lobo and childhood friend)

PETRAITIS: Hahaha this is a hard one to answer. He is an amazing basketball player, truly one of the best teammates I have ever had on top of that. All I can say is I think it would be a very close game and that it would be fun to battle it out one day soon.

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JOURNAL: How long have you and CJ known each other and how close are you?

PETRAITIS: I have known him since I was 7 or 8 years old playing AAU basketball. We both always have kept in touch no matter where we both were in our lives. When I saw he was a Lobo I was so happy for him and he made it clear that this was his favorite place. He loved the fans, the environment, and the family experience he had here. As soon as I committed here he was one of the first people to reach out and you could just hear the excitement in his voice. I鈥檓 excited to have CJ and his family come to games this year! It鈥檚 gonna be a fun year!

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JOURNAL: For those Lobos fans who only remember that shot (any maybe forgot you actually had a lot of good games vs. UNM, including a 26-point game in the MW Tournament), how would you describe your game? What are fans about to see on the court and is there anyone you think your game is similar to?

PETRAITIS: I would describe my game as a guy that will do anything to win. If coach asks me to be a rebounder one game that鈥檚 what he will get. If he asks me to be a playmaker another game I will do such that. I think the type of player I am is a winner. I can do everything out there on the court and if my teammates and coaches need something from me they will get it. I will be diving on the floor getting loose balls, I will be scrappy, and I will be passionate. That I can promise. I believe a great NBA comparison is Josh Hart, he does anything his teams needs him to do and look what he just did. He won a championship.

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JOURNAL: Last one. As a guy who has a uniquely spelled name, I get all sorts of pronunciations of my name. Help us out with the pronunciation of your name, and do people butcher it a lot?

PETRAITIS: Yes many people get my name wrong which is normal but for clarification it鈥檚 R-EE-TIS PET-TRY-TIS. Hopefully that helps! If not don鈥檛 be afraid to ask me! I love talking to fans!

Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) @GeoffGrammer.