Karnisovas '94 Named Chicago Bulls Executive Vice President
4/13/2020 11:35:00 AM | Men's Basketball
"This is the height of a dream for me, and I am prepared for the challenge that it presents," Karnisovas said in a Chicago Bulls press release. "I grew up watching the Chicago Bulls. They represented American basketball and the NBA to a kid from Lithuania. I've always had a love for this franchise and to be a part of it and influence its revival is a privilege. I want to thank Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf and the entire Bulls organization for presenting me with this opportunity and welcoming me and my family to Chicago."
Congrats to one of our fantastic alumni Arturas Karnisovas on his new position with @chicagobulls! 🙌 💙https://t.co/NOVpS2gZnb #HALLin | #PiratePride pic.twitter.com/fDI4OPD6Bo
— Seton Hall Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) April 13, 2020
A 2008 inductee into the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame, Karnisovas was an outstanding student-athlete for the men's basketball team and holds many distinctions. He scored 1,509 points in 123 career games, which ranked 12th all-time at Seton Hall at the time of his graduation and still ranks 21st today. He was the 1994 Haggerty Award Metropolitan Player of the Year, a two-time All-BIG EAST and All-Met Writers selection, the first BIG EAST student-athlete to be named Scholar-Athlete of the Year in back-to-back seasons (1993 & 1994) and a CoSIDA Academic All-America honoree in 1994.
A part of Seton Hall's golden age for college basketball, Karnisovas appeared in four straight NCAA Tournament teams (1990-94) for the Pirates, one of only three student-athletes to hold that distinction. The 93 wins Seton Hall accumulated with Karnisovas on the roster is tied for the most for any student-athlete in program history. In 1993, he earned BIG EAST All-Tournament Team honors after helping Seton Hall to its second BIG EAST Tournament championship, which included a 20-point, 10-rebound performance in the title game victory over Syracuse.
On the international stage, Karnisovas won two Olympic bronze medals for Lithuania in 1992 in Barcelona and 1996 in Atlanta. He enjoyed an eight year professional playing career with stops in Spain, Italy, Greece and France. Karnisovas was the FIBA European Player of the Year in 1996, the FIBA EuroStars MVP in 1997 and he reached the Final Four of the Euroleague three times.
