How Florida’s Newest International Bigs are Adapting to Gators Basketball

From program legends like Al Horford and Joakim Noah to current leaders like Alex Condon, Rueben Chinyelu and Urban Klavžar, international talent has fueled Florida Gators men’s basketball for years.

That pipeline has only widened under the leadership of coach Todd Golden, who has coached 12 foreign-born players during his tenure. Entering the 2026-27 season, Florida features a SEC-high seven international players, including two frontcourt additions from Lithuania and Slovenia looking to make their mark in Gainesville.

Stepping into the O’Dome this season are freshman center Arturas Butajevas and junior forward Domen Petrovic. The two European big men are adapting to a new country, but the heavy international presence Golden has recruited brings both a friendly rivalry and unique bonding opportunities.

“There have been shooting practices where we were split into two groups, and it was international guys versus American guys; that’s the kind of rivalry we have,” Petrovic said.

Moving overseas, it’s not easy being so far from family, but when fellow international teammates help with the team connection. 

“The international guys, I would say there’s a bit of a certain bond with the guys because we’re all away from home,” Petrovic said. “For me personally, it’s easier having Urb [Urban Klavžar] from my country and Mik [Viktor Mikić]; we kind of all speak Serbian.” 

The feeling is mutual for Butajevas. 

“It’s much easier to connect also with Serbian and Australian guys; I feel more like home,” Butajevas said. “I’m happy with the team actually; we’re all a family, everyone standing together.”

Having a group of guys with similar situations helps ease the distance. For Petrovic, playing with his countryman Klavžar, was another reason to come to the Gators. Having the chance to share the court with fellow countrymen can add a lot to the mental aspect, but also to the chemistry on the court, speaking the same language. 

“If we want to comment on a play that happened, we naturally switch to Slovenian,” Petrovic said. “Sometimes when we’re discussing tactical stuff or whatever, we’ll talk in Slovenian because we know nobody can understand ” 

Naturally, you can imagine Petrovic and Klavžar talking Slovenian trash at practice or joking around. But they may need to keep an eye out for others picking up some Slovenian or Serbian.

“I think even Arturas started picking up on some Slovenian and Serbian, so he kind of partakes in it,” said Petrovic on trash-talking with Urban in Slovenian on the court. “So yeah, there’s been some, but it kind of adds to the competitive spirit in practice.”

While they both have found a home in the Gators’ locker room, their journeys to the SEC have been vastly different from the traditional American high school recruiting trail. 

For Petrovic, his older sibling was his gateway to the game. At age four, Petrovic tagged along with his older brother to his practices, and from there was the click. 

“As a younger brother, I was like, ‘Oh, I want to do this as well,’ so I kind of followed and started practicing with him, and then it kind of took off,” Petrovic said. “I always loved it [basketball].” 

The big-league moment came for Petrovic when he was playing for GGD Sencur in the top division of Slovenian basketball and advanced with that team to the Adriatic League play (a collection of teams from multiple countries in the region). 

“I think the first moment I was like, ‘Oh s—, I’m in the pros now,’ was when we played our first friendly game my first year, and we played against one of the biggest clubs in Slovenia,” Petrovic said. “It was my first time playing against Slovenian national team members and ex-NBA players.”

In contrast to Petrovic’s lifelong basketball journey, Butajevas had a different path. The Lithuanian grew up taller than most kids, but his main sport was actually soccer. He was playing soccer for eight years, and when his parents came to the realization that his height might make things difficult for him on the pitch, they began to look into basketball. 

At age 12, Butajevas and his family moved back from Norway to their native country and began Butajevas’ training.  

“It was a hard process because all my summers I was working out,” Butajevas said. “I didn’t have free time. It was wake up, workout, eat, workout, eat, and then I started playing in Lithuania.” 

The beginning wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t the best on the team, and it was a work in progress until Butajevas figured out his shot. As Butajevas’ shots began to align, his connection grew; he was invited to the Lithuanian youth national team and later signed by the FC Barcelona basketball team.

“When I came to Barcelona, I was just a five (center); I couldn’t shoot, I couldn’t do anything; I could just rebound, and that’s it,” Butajevas said.

The Barcelona staff were instrumental to Butajevas’ development, finding aspects of his game he didn’t have prior. Barcelona decided to work on his shooting in practice, and the shots began going down, and he started playing the four on the court.

“I was thinking, wow, this is so different, so I love the four position, and then they started mixing me up [five and four],” Butajevas said. “So I can be whatever position the coach needs me to play.”

The willingness to embrace any role on the court has transitioned to Gainesville, and both Butajevas and Petrovic have built a foundation of trust with Golden and the staff. 

“I feel like a connection, like he is a player’s coach,” Butajevas said of his time so far with Golden. “He trusts in you, and I like that all the coaches here, they are really truthful with you. If something is bad, they come and say to you right in your face, ‘Hey, you need to do this better.’ ”

Petrovic shares those feelings, leaning on the staff to help him merge his skill set with the relentless energy in American college basketball. 

“Everything that I’ve seen from coach Golden is that he’s an honest person and a great coach,” Petrovic said.

With the Gators bringing 81.8% of their scoring back this season and a veteran-heavy roster, rotational minutes will be competitive. Whether the two Europeans play or not, their approach echoes the team’s zero-ego, championship-contending mindset. 

“Whatever they put me in, I will do everything I can, and I will do everything as hard as I can,” Butajevas said. “Shooting from three, I feel that I can help the team stretch the floor and on defense 

For Petrovic, personal stats and playing time come second to the ultimate goal.

“My primary focus is helping the team win,” Petrovic said. “And trying to win a national championship.” 

The No. 1 Gators open the season at 6 p.m. today in Tampa’s Benchmark International against No. 14 Miami. Coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. on 103.7-FM ESPN and at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

Category: Gator Sports, Gators Men's Basketball