Raitis Grafs (born June 12, 1981) is a Latvian professional basketball center. Born in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, Latvia, he is a member of the

Latvia national basketball team The Latvia men's national basketball team ( lv, Latvijas basketbola izlase) represents Latvia in international basketball. They are organized and run by the Latvian Basketball Association. Latvia has reached the European Basketball Championshi ...

. In kindergarten, Grafs met

Kristaps Valters Kristaps Valters (born September 18, 1981) is a Latvian former professional basketball player. After retiring he became a coach, and is currently working as a head coach for Valmiera/ORDO. Playing career Valters first played professionally in ...

and they became fast friends. Since then, the two have grown to be best friends and teammates on the

. As a teenager, Grafs was regarded as one of the best prospects in Europe averaging 13.8 points and 10.5 rebounds at the 1998 U18 European Championship. He posted similar numbers (11.9 ppg and 11.0 rpg) at the 1999 World Junior Championship during which he was voted a First Team All-Star. At 16 years 5 months, Grafs became the youngest Latvian National Team member. For the next step in his career he chose to study at

Valparaiso University Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana. It is a Lutheran university with about 3,000 students from over 50 countries on a campus of . Originally named Valparaiso Male and Female College, Valparaiso Universit ...

; during four years at Valparaiso University (

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

) he was nominated newcomer of the year in the conference. After university he returned to Europe and played in Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Estonia, Cyprus and Latvia.

References

1981 births Living people Apollon Limassol BC players ASK Riga players BC Rakvere Tarvas players BC Valga players BK VEF Rīga players BK Ventspils players Centers (basketball) Latvian expatriate basketball people in Estonia Latvian men's basketball players Latvian expatriate basketball people in the United States Basketball players from Riga Valparaiso Beacons men's basketball players {{Latvia-basketball-bio-stub