Miro Little (born 30 May 2004) is a Finnish college basketball player who plays for UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in Big West Conference. He previously played for the Utah Utes and the Baylor Bears. Little also represents the Finland national team.
Early career Little started to play basketball in a youth team of his hometown club Tampereen Pyrintö.Miro Little, 19, puhuu avoimesti NBA-unelmastaan, Yle, 3 September 2023 He joined Helsinki Basketball Academy in 2019 and played with HBA-Märsky in Finnish second tier Koripallon I-divisioona. In 2022, he played at the Adidas Next Generation tournament with HBA in Patras, Greece,Miro League EuroLeague profile averaging 23.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists over four games. Later in the same year, he moved to United States to attend Sunrise Christian Academy high school. In February 2023, Little was invited to the Basketball Without Borders camp,Miro Littlelle kutsu NBA:n Basketball Without Borders -maailmanleirille, basket.fi, 10 February 2023 and in April 2023, he was invited to the Nike Hoop Summit event.Miro, 18, pääsi valiojoukkoon – Vasta toinen suomalainen maailman parhaiden tapahtumassa, Iltalehti, 25 March 2023Miro Little kohosi USA:n yliopistopelaajien eliittiin – ”Jotain on tehty oikein”, suomikoris.com, 19 June 2023
College career Little started his college career in 2023 and joined Baylor for the 2023–24 season. He had committed to Baylor already a one-year before over several other offers. In his freshman year, Little had a minor role in the team and his playing minutes were limited,Sasu Salin ja Miro Little avautuvat poikkeuksellisista kausistaan – Susijengin luottopelaajat joutuivat sivuraiteelle, Yle, 25 June 2024Mitä nyt, Miro Little?, Etelä-Suomen Sanomat, 1 July 2024 and eventually in the end of April 2024, he registered to the NCAA transfer portal.Suomi-koriksen suurlupaus Miro Little jättää huippuyliopiston, Helsingin Sanomat, 26 April 2024
On 7 May 2024, it was announced that Little would join the Utah Utes.Susijengin Miro Little siirtyy Utahin yliopistoon, Yle, 7 May 2024Miro Littlen ura jatkuu Utahin yliopistossa, basket.fi, 8 May 2024
In April 2025, it was announced that Little would join UC Santa Barbara in Big West Conference.Miro Little vaihtaa yliopistoseuraa Yhdysvalloissa, Yle, 6 April 2025
National team career Youth Little played for Finland U16 at the 2019 FIBA U16B European Championship tournament. He played also for Finland U18 at the 2022 FIBA U18B European Championships, where Finland finished 3rd and were promoted to Division A.
Senior Little debuted in Finland senior national team on 25 February 2022 aged 17, in a 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifying win against Slovenia.Susijengin kuopus Miro Little: “Pääpaino pitää olla treenaamisessa”, basket.fi, 21 February 2022 He was the first Finnish underaged player in 25 years to make a debut at the senior international level, after Teemu Rannikko.
Little was named in the Finland squad for the EuroBasket 2022, and for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. He also played in the 2024 FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament in Valencia, Spain,Susijengin pelaajatusina olympiakarsintoihin on vahvistettu, basket.fi, 30 June 2024 averaging 7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists in three games against Bahamas, Poland and Spain.
Little played for Finland at the EuroBasket 2025, where they historically reached the semi-finals and finished 4th in the tournament. Little led Finland with 4.6 assists per game.
Career statistics
College
| style="text-align:left;"| 2023–24 | style="text-align:left;"| Baylor | 34 || 0 || 7.1 || .429 || .360 || .722 || 1.2 || .7 || .1 || – || 1.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2024–25 | style="text-align:left;"| Utah | 33 || 12 || 17.7 || .337 || .310 || .755 || 3.2 || 2.9 || .9 || .2 || 5.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2025–26 | style="text-align:left;"| UCSB | 18 || 18 || 28.6 || .460 || .344 || .829 || 5.4 || 4.6 || 1.3 || .4 || 11.9 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 85 || 30 || 15.8 || .397 || .329 || .792 || 2.9 || 2.4 || .7 || .1 || 5.3
National team Team Tournament Finland EuroBasket 2022 7th 2023 FIBA World Cup 21st EuroBasket 2025 4th
Personal life Little was born in Tampere, Finland, and raised in Pirkkala, to a Finnish basketball player Kati Packalén and an American basketball player . His father played basketball in Finland, and later worked as a basketball referee in Finnish Korisliiga. His mother Kati Packalén was named the CEO of the Basketball Association of Finland in September 2022.Kati Packalén Koripalloliiton toimitusjohtajaksi, basket.fi, 30 September 2022 His older sister is also a basketball player.
At the age of six, Little was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.Susijengin pelintekijä Miro Little, diabeteslehti.fi, 23 September 2025Miro Little, 18, on suomalaisen koripallon suurin lupaus sitten Lauri Markkasen – heittää viikossa 2 000 kertaa omalla ajalla, Yle, 30 June 2022Interview: Miro Little, eurospects.com, 12 May 2023
References
External links UC Santa Barbara Gauchos bio Utah Utes bio Baylor Bears bio