Saint Mary's star forward Paulius Murauskas plans to enter the transfer portal, he told ESPN on Tuesday.
Randy Bennett, the Gaels' head coach for the past 25 years, left the program on Monday to take over at Arizona State.
Murauskas, a 6-foot-8 forward from Lithuania, earned All-West Coast Conference honors after each of the past two seasons. He averaged 18.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists this season, including 15 games of at least 20 points. He had 26 points and eight rebounds in a WCC tournament semifinal loss to Santa Clara and went for 24 points against Vanderbilt in November.
Murauskas was held to four points in the seventh-seeded Gaels' 63-54 loss to No. 10 seed Texas A&M on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Two seasons ago, Murauskas averaged 12.1 points and 7.7 rebounds, having breakout performances against Washington State (30 points, 10 rebounds) and Utah (29 points, seven rebounds). He started every game and totaled a league-leading 13 double-doubles.
Murauskas began his career at Arizona in 2023-24, appearing in 23 games before entering the transfer portal.
He has been a staple on the FIBA circuit, representing Lithuania at three events since 2019. Most recently, he averaged 18.1 points and 10.3 rebounds at the U20 EuroBasket in 2024. Before his arrival at Arizona, Murauskas spent three seasons in Lithuania's top professional division.
