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GDYNIA, Poland —The Saint Mary's Men's Basketball program's graduating class of 2025 featured three of the most successful Gaels in program history. Most notably, the trio of Augustas Marciulionis, Mitchell Saxen and Luke Barrett became the first ever Gaels to appear in four NCAA Tournaments in four years. At the start of this summer, Marciulionis signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. About a month later, Mitchell Saxen signed with Nanterre 92 of France. Luke Barrett has now completed the Gael trifecta, signing with Arka Gdynia of the Polish Basketball League, joining the likes of Brad Waldow '15 of WKK Wroclaw.
Luke Barrett began his Saint Mary's career as a walk-on appearing in one game his first season with the Gaels before suffering a season ending injury. Despite the inconspicuous start to his career, Barrett persevered, demonstrating his ability to out-work anyone in the gym. By his third year in the program, Barrett was awarded a scholarship, and became the Gaels sixth man in his fourth season. It was in his final season with the Gaels, however, when Barrett really made his mark. The Piedmont native started every single game for SMC, leading the WCC by playing 36:29 on average per contest, including a full 40 minutes 12 times. His 9.8 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per contest were enough to earn him an honorable mention All-WCC nod, while his excellent work in the classroom earned him his third WCC All-Academic recognition. Barrett appeared in every NCAA Tournament throughout his final four years, headlined by a 12 point, 10 rebound double-double in the Gaels win over Vanderbilt.
Barrett will be joining the nine-time Polish Champs, Arka Gdynia, who won all nine of those titles in nine consecutive years between 2004 and 2012. Numerous players who have suited up for Arka Gdynia have also donned NBA uniforms, including 10 year NBA veteran and longtime Indiana Pacers point guard Travis Best, eight-year league vet Alonzo Gee, and Lithuanian star and Houston Rocket standout Donatas Montiejunas. Recently, Arka Gdynia has struggled to compete for titles in the PKL, not finishing better than 10th over the past five seasons, so Barrett will look to help change that and lead his new squad back to the mountain top.
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