Rīgas Armijas Sporta Klubs was a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

club that was based 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.

History

Rīgas ASK was founded in 1931, and started playing in the Latvian Basketball Championship. In the years that Latvia was controlled by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, the club was a member of the USSR Premier League, which lasted until 1991 (and to 1992 as the

CIS Cis or cis- may refer to: Places * Cis, Trentino, in Italy * In Poland: ** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central ** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north Math, science and biology * cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...

Unified League). In 1953,

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Alexander Gomelsky Alexander Yakovlevich Gomelsky (russian: Александр Яковлевич Гомельский; 18 January 1928 – 16 August 2005) was a Russian professional basketball player and coach. The Father of Soviet and Russian basketball, he was i ...

came to the club, and he remained with it until 1966. Almost immediately, Gomelsky led ASK to the top of the USSR League, as he and the club's star player,

Jānis Krūmiņš Jānis Krūmiņš (30 January 1930 – 20 November 1994) was a Soviet- Latvian professional basketball player. Helped by his height (about 220 cm, or 7'3"), he was the first giant center that dominated under European baskets, for years. As ...

, led them to USSR League championships in 1955, 1957, and 1958, and also to the top of the European-wide top-tier level, by winning the FIBA European Champions Cup (now called EuroLeague) three times in a row, in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, and

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

. As well as to

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

. In 1997, Rīgas ASK merged with BK Brocēni, and the new club of BK ASK Brocēni was thus created. In 2004, a new club, under the name of BK Rīga was founded; and in 2006, it was renamed to ASK Rīga, after gaining the support of Riga City Council, the National Latvian Army Forces, and some powerful sponsors.

Honours

Total titles: 6

Domestic competitions

* USSR Premier League : Champions (3): 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58 : ''Runners-up (2)'': 1961–62, 1963–64

European competitions

* EuroLeague : Champions (3):

, 1958–59, 1959–60 : ''Runners-up (1)'': 1960–61FIBA European Champions Cup 1960/61
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Notable players

Romanas Brazdauskis Romanas Brazdauskis (born February 20, 1964 in Kretinga) is a former basketball player from Lithuania, who won the bronze medal with the Lithuania national basketball team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. His son, Lukas Brazdauski ...

Alvils Gulbis Alvils Gulbis (17 April 1936 – 27 February 2021)

Aivar Kuusmaa Aivar Kuusmaa (born 12 June 1967) is an Estonian basketball coach and former professional basketball player who played mostly at the shooting guard position. He won the USSR Premier Basketball League in 1991 as a member of the Tallinn Kalev ba ...

Jaak Lipso Jaak Lipso (born April 18, 1940) is a retired Estonian professional basketball player, who competed for the Soviet Union. He is the only Estonian basketball player who has won two medals at the Olympic Games. Lipso has also won two medals at the ...

Valdis Muižnieks Valdis Muižnieks (February 22, 1935 – November 29, 2013) was a Latvian basketball player. Muižnieks was born in Riga. He played for Rīgas ASK and won 3 Euroleague titles (1958, 1959, 1960) and 4 Soviet national championships (1955, 1956 ...

Rauno Pehka Rauno Pehka (born January 1, 1969) is a retired Estonian professional basketball player who played mostly at the point guard position. He won the Soviet Union league championship in 1991 as a member of the Tallinn Kalev basketball team. Pehka ...

Maigonis Valdmanis Maigonis Valdmanis (September 8, 1933 – October 30, 1999) was a Soviet and Latvian basketball player and coach. He was born in Riga. He played for Rīgas ASK and won three Euroleague titles (1958, 1959, 1960) and four Soviet national league c ...

Head coaches

* Gunārs Baldzēns (1953) *

(1953–1966) *

(1966–1969) * Gunārs Baldzēns (1969–1970) *

Juris Kalniņš Juris Kalniņš (8 March 1938 – 9 February 2010) was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Latvian basketball player. He played as a shooting guard and small forward. Kalniņš won a silver medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics. He won a bronze medal at the 19 ...

(1970–1971) * Jānis Zeltiņš (1971–1974 & 1987–1988) * Valentīns Meļņičuks (1974–1981) * Nikolajs Bolvačovs (1981–1986 & 1988) * Aleksandrs Gostevs (1988) *

Armands Krauliņš Armands Krauliņš (August 16, 1939 - July 1, 2022) was a Latvian basketball coach and Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars ( lv, Triju Zvaigžņu ordenis) is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It ...

(1989–1990) * Pēteris Višņēvics (1990–1991)

References

{{Rīgas ASK 1959–60 FIBA European Champions Cup Winners 1997 disestablishments in Latvia Basketball teams established in 1931 Basketball teams in Latvia Basketball teams in the Soviet Union EuroLeague-winning clubs Sport in Riga