Vytautas Kulakauskas (August 25, 1920, in

Kuršėnai Kuršėnai (; Samogitian dialect, Samogitian: ''Koršienā''; yi, קורשאַן ''Kurshon''; german: Kurschenen; pl, Kurszany; lv, Kuršēni) is the twenty-fifth largest city in Lithuania. According to the 2020 estimate, it had 10,829 resident ...

– December 22, 2000, in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

) was a

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

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 ...

player, coach, and educator, who competed for 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 ...

in the

EuroBasket 1947 The 1947 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1947, was the fifth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Fourteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) took ...

and won a gold medal.

Biography

In 1940, Kulakauskas graduated Kaunas Military School. In 1944–1945 he studied at

Vytautas Magnus University Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) ( lt, Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas (VDU)) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university. Initially it was known ...

's Faculty of Medicine. In 1948 he graduated

Lithuanian Sports University Lithuanian Sports University or LSU is a university in Kaunas, Lithuania, specializing in sports, physical activities, and physiology. It is headquartered in Žaliakalnis neighbourhood, in close proximity to the Kaunas Sports Hall and the S. Dar ...

. In 1945–1950 he taught at Lithuanian Sports University. In 1950–1960 at

Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences Vytautas Magnus University Education Academy ( lt, Vytauto Didžiojo universiteto Švietimo akademija or VDU ŠA) – an academical unit of Vytautas Magnus University, which specialized in preparing school teachers and other educators. Located i ...

, he was Head of the Department of Physical Education, in 1957–1960 even was the Dean of the Faculty of Music. In 1961–1980 became

Vilnius Gediminas Technical University Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VILNIUS TECH) is a public university located in Vilnius, Lithuania. There are 10 faculties including Antanas Gustaitis Aviation Institute, Architecture, Business Management, Civil Engineering, Creative I ...

teacher, from 1964 Head of the Department of Physical Education. In 1968 he became associate professor. He also published the book ''Krepšininko treniruote'' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''The basketball player workout''), where he included many epitomes regarding the training.

Personal life

He had a wife, Elena Kulakauskienė.

Soviet Union national team

In a 1990s interview, Kulakauskas described the Soviet squad by telling: "It could be said that there were the physical preparations and shootings, however all the tactics and the game-play was given to them by us. I remember by preparing for the Olympics in February, in Moscow, we were working on tactics for a month. On tactics exercises without any game-play. Not a single minute. We were working the whole month on techniques and tactics improvement. We gave the whole American school to them, which we received from the Lithuanian Americans".Telecast "Mūsų krepšinis" (Season: 1; Episode: 1; Quotation begins at 12:52)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kulakauskas, Vytautas 1920 births 2000 deaths Lithuanian men's basketball players Lithuanian basketball coaches Soviet men's basketball players Soviet basketball coaches BC Žalgiris players FIBA EuroBasket-winning players People from Kuršėnai Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Vytautas Magnus University alumni Lithuanian Sports University alumni Academic staff of Lithuanian Sports University Academic staff of the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences