Wisconsin’s biggest transfer portal departure yet, Aleksas Bieliauskas, has found a new home a little over a week after bidding Madison farewell.
Bieliauskas has committed to play for South Carolina, according to a report from Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.
Bieliauskas will have three years of eligibility remaining with the Gamecocks, and the 20-year old Lithuanian stretch big man had a strong debut season of American college basketball in Madison.
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Bieliauskas’ Brief Wisconsin Career
With Wisconsin, Bieliauskas was initially thought to be a bench forward. However, early-season struggles from fellow newcomer and then-starter Austin Rapp thrusted Bieliauskas into the starting five on Dec. 3, seven games into the season.
Off the bench, Bieliauskas was nearly an afterthought. He was held scoreless in four of the seven games in which he wasn’t part of the starting lineup. But after he entered the first five, the forward averaged 5.3 points and 4.4 rebounds, also notably shooting 36.6 percent from distance the rest of the way.
Those numbers won’t wow you, but Bieliauskas had an uncanny ability to get scorching hot from downtown. Despite the fact that he was far from an aggressive shooter the large majority of the time, he had a couple of wild performances.
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The first was Wisconsin’s enormous upset over Michigan on Jan. 10 in which he hit five crucial threes and notched 17 points. In the final game of the regular season, Bieliauskas knocked down 4-of-5 triples in Mackey Arena to help knock off Purdue.
Regardless, the Badgers had bigger retention priorities in their frontcourt. For as promising as the Lithuanian’s freshman season was, Wisconsin favored both Nolan Winter (who is all but officially re-signed) and Austin Rapp (who recently made his return official). And with the Badgers operating on a limited NIL budget, Bieliauskas likely just got the short end of the stick.
How can Bieliauskas help South Carolina?
At South Carolina, Bieliauskas joins a Gamecocks’ program that has struggled mightily in recent seasons. They went 13-19 in 2025-26, and 12-20 the year prior. They have just one NCAA Tournament appearance over the past nine seasons.
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Bieliauskas’ three-point prowess is also a huge get for the Gamecocks, as they ranked 319th nationally in three-point percentage last season. He joins Camden Heide, who transferred to South Carolina from Texas, as frontcourt additions in Columbia.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/wisconsin as Former Wisconsin Forward Aleksas Bieliauskas Transfers to SEC Program.
