By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
No. 20 Baylor men’s basketball freshman guard Miro Little started his first semester on campus later than most newcomers.
Little didn’t enroll until late September because he was representing his country — Finland — in the 2023 FIBA World Cup that began in August. Little, a former four-star point guard according to 247 Sports, said the experience of playing against world-class talent was invaluable.
“Just playing in one of the biggest tournaments in the world — if not the biggest — and playing against NBA-level talent [was crazy],” Little said. “Just getting that experience and knowing that I can compete with those guys as well as I can with anybody [is huge].”
Head coach Scott Drew said Little joined the team for practice in late September and had a different swagger to him.
“Definitely just coming off a World Cup, just a lot of confidence,” Drew said. “He not only played against a lot of NBA players and pro players, but had success.”
Little played five games with the Finnish National Team at the 2023 FIBA World Cup and averaged 5.0 points and 4.6 assists in 17.5 minutes per game.
A native of Helsinki, Finland, Little prepped at Sunrise Christian Academy — one of the top basketball schools in the nation — located just north of Wichita, Kan. Little became the third player to join the Bears from Sunrise in the last five years, joining Jordan Turner (2019) and Kendall Brown (2021).
Baylor offered Little a scholarship in January 2022, and he committed about three months later. The 6-foot-4-inch, 185-pound guard said it was a no-brainer to commit for Drew’s program. Little called it a “dream come true.”
“I don’t think words can describe it,” Little said. “From a small kid, [I] just wanted to go D1 and play on the highest level. And now being in the best conference in the whole country in my opinion and just representing Baylor [is great].”
In addition to the World Cup, Little played with Finland’s senior team in the FIBA EuroBasket Championships, helping the squad get to a quarterfinal berth against Spain. Little was the youngest player in the tournament and the youngest Finnish player to ever compete for the senior team.
Drew said Little brings a lot of experience under his belt, which has shown in practice so far. Despite being a first-year guard with zero collegiate basketball to his name, Drew said Little is different from a typical underclassman.
“He talks like an upperclassman, competes like an upperclassman, carries himself like an upperclassman,” Drew said.
Little said he’s been working on his shooting the most leading up to the 2023-24 Baylor men’s basketball season. He said it’s going to be important that he brings a scoring punch to Big 12 basketball, which is often regarded as the toughest men’s basketball conference in the NCAA.
“I just know the intensity is going to be really high and the physicality altogether,” Little said. “I’m really excited because I like to play at a high level. I like to play with a lot of intensity and play hard and play really physically.”
The Bears open their season against Auburn at 8 p.m. CT on Tuesday in the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
