February 10, 2025
Top international prospect Justė Jocytė is eligible for 2025 WNBA Draft
By Hunter Cruse
The 6'2 Lithuanian guard is a potential first-round pick in the 2025 Draft
19-year-old Lithuanian star Justė Jocytė is now eligible for the 2025 WNBA Draft, she recently told The Next. The 6’2 guard plays for ASVEL in France’s top division alongside Dominique Malonga, a projected Top 5 pick in this year’s draft.
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“The WNBA has always been a dream of mine,” Jocytė told The Next. “You only get drafted once, so with this being my draft year, I’m really excited to see how it will go.”
Jocytė’s WNBA draft eligibility status has long been a question. She was born in the United States in 2005 when her parents worked at the Embassy of Lithuania in Washington, D.C.
This would classify her as a domestic player under the WNBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, making Jocytė ineligible for the draft until 2027. However, because she grew up in Lithuania and has played overseas her entire life, she qualifies as an international player and is eligible in 2025.
Jocytė is the most talented Lithuanian prospect of the 21st century. At only 13 years old, she made her debut for the Lithuanian national team against Albania at the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket Qualifiers in 2019. A month later, Jocytė became the youngest player to play in a game in modern EuroLeague history (14 years and 29 days old).
When Jocytė debuted for ASVEL against Dynamo Kursk in 2019, she was guarding WNBA All-Star DeWanna Bonner on her first defensive possession. She would score her first EuroLeague points a few weeks later, driving against Brionna Jones.
“It was a crazy experience,” Jocytė said. “I know I was scared; I was shaking before the game. Seeing a 14-year-old running around on the court against WNBA stars is not an everyday thing.”
Although Jocytė played in just four games before the 2020 season was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she had the chance to observe and learn from WNBA champion Alysha Clark.
“Now that I look back at my time playing with Alysha, I was really young and shy, so I regret not asking her more questions,” Jocytė said. “I believe if she were on my team today, it would be different. She’s just a phenomenal player, so seeing her work ethic and how she takes care of her body was a really good experience.”
Since moving from Lithuania to France in 2019, Jocytė hasn’t played in a league against girls her age. She never averaged more than 15 minutes per game from 2019 to 2024, so most of her development came in practice.
“To be honest, mentally, it was hard,” Jocytė said. “When you come into a season, you’re like, ‘Okay, I want to play, I want to perform, I know what I’m capable of.’ But at the same time, I was playing alongside players like Gabby Williams, so it’s not like I was going to steal her minutes at 16 years old. I had to be patient, and I learned a lot from them.”
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When she did get the chance to play against girls her age, she dominated. In 2022, Jocytė, only 16 years old at the time, won MVP at the FIBA U18 Women’s European Championship, leading Lithuania to its first title since 2008. She averaged 19.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 6.9 assists to 2.9 turnovers across seven games.
In Jan. 2024, Jocytė underwent left hip surgery after dealing with discomfort for the first two months of the season. The surgery kept her out for the remainder of the season, and she was also forced to miss the U20 EuroBasket in July.
“It was a long rehab process,” Jocytė said. “The doctor told me it could be a three-month recovery process or 13 months, so it was frustrating not knowing when I’d be back and if I’d come back better or worse.”
After the 2024 season, veterans Marine Johannès, Julie Allemand, and Williams left ASVEL, opening up minutes for Jocytė to be a focal point of the team’s offense. She returned to court on Sept. 28, 2024, and hasn’t missed a beat. Through 24 games, Jocytė is averaging 11.7 points and 3.0 assists on 42% shooting from 2 and 35% shooting from 3.
On Feb. 6, in the EuroBasket qualifying tournament, she had 14 points, four rebounds, and five assists in a win against Poland, helping Lithuania qualify for EuroBasket for the first time in a decade.
Two days later, Jocytė was the best player on the court against Emma Meesseman and Belgium, recording a game-high 22 points, six rebounds, and six assists in a 70-69 loss.
She is not an explosive athlete, so she uses her creativity, pacing, and court-mapping to get to her spots out of ball screens. Jocytė grew up playing the point guard position but has settled into a secondary ball-handler role with ASVEL.
“I’m not the most [athletic] player on the court, so I can’t play at the same speed as everyone else, so I had to learn and adapt how to change speeds after a screen, just knowing when to slow down and when to change directions,” Jocytė said. “I love to watch film, especially the men’s EuroLeague — I learn a lot from that.”
Jocytė’s biggest area of improvement is her defense. She can be targeted 1-on-1 at the point of attack and needs to clean up her off-ball rotations and positioning.
Jocytė is currently a Top 10 prospect on The Next’s 2025 draft board. Jocytė could become the first Lithuanian drafted into the WNBA since Jurgita Štreimikytė was selected No. 26 overall in 2000.
Her contract with ASVEL expires at the end of the season. She told The Next that she’s still considering the college basketball route, but hasn’t made a final decision.
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