Raitis Grafs

Raitis Grafs
	Raitis Grafs (left) with Armands Šķēle playing against Estonia in 2006.
Personal information
Born	June 12, 1981 (age 43); Riga, Latvia
Nationality	Latvian
Listed height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight	240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
College	Valparaiso (1999–2003)
NBA draft	2003: undrafted
Playing career	1997–2014, 2016
Position	Center
Number	5, 13
Career history
1997–1999	Broceni Riga
2003–2004	Telindus Oostende
2004–2005	Śląsk Wrocław
2005–2006	Ventspils
2006–2009	ASK Rīga
2009–2010	BC Šiauliai
2010	VEF Rīga
2011	BK SPU Nitra
2011–2012	Apollon Limassol
2012	BC Šiauliai
2012	Rakvere Tarvas
2012–2014	Valga/Maks&Moorits
2016	VEF skola
Career highlights and awards
	FIBA EuroStar (2007); Baltic League All-Star (2007); Polish Cup winner (2005); 4× Latvian League champion (1998, 1999, 2006, 2007); Latvian League All-Star (2009); 2× All-Mid-Con Conference First Team (2001, 2002); Mid-Con Conference All-Tournament Team (2001); Mid-Con Conference All-Newcomer Team (2000); Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team (2001); Fiesta Bowl Classic All-Tournament Team (2002);

Raitis Grafs (born June 12, 1981) is a former Latvian professional basketball player. He played at the center position. Grafs represented the senior men's Latvian national team.^[1] He was a FIBA EuroStar in 2007.

Early life and career

Grafs was born in Riga, Latvia. In kindergarten, Grafs met Kristaps Valters, and they eventually became best friends,^{[citation needed]} and also eventually became teammates. As a teenager, Grafs was regarded^{[by whom?]} as one of the best young basketball prospects in Europe.

College career

Grafs played college basketball in the NCAA DI at Valparaiso University, where he played with the Valparaiso Crusaders, from 1999 to 2003. During his freshman year at Valparaiso, he was nominated the conferences' Newcomer of the Year.

Professional career

After he finished playing college basketball in the US, Grafs returned to Europe. He eventually went on to play in Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Estonia, Cyprus, and Latvia.

National team career

Latvian junior national team

Grafs averaged 13.8 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, at the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. At the 1999 FIBA Under-19 World Cup, he averaged 11.9 points per game and 11.0 rebounds per game, and he was voted to the All-Tournament Team.

Latvian senior national team

Grafs was also a member of the senior Latvian national team. At the age of just 16 years and 5 months, Grafs became the youngest member of the senior men's Latvian national team. With Latvia, he played at the 2001 EuroBasket, the 2003 EuroBasket, the 2005 EuroBasket, and the 2007 EuroBasket.

References

^ "RAITIS GRAFS basketball profile". eurobasket.com. Retrieved 2010-04-05.

External links

This biographical article relating to a Latvian basketball figure is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "RAITIS GRAFS basketball profile". eurobasket.com. Retrieved 2010-04-05.

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