Jānis Gailītis (born 23 April 1985) is a Latvian former professional basketball player and professional basketball coach, who is currently the head coach for

Mitteldeutscher BC Mitteldeutscher Basketball Club (), for sponsorship reasons named SYNTAINICS MBC, and commonly known as simply MBC, is a professional basketball club based in Weißenfels, Germany. The club currently plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, the first ...

and an assistant to head coach Luca Banchi in the Latvian National Team.

Coaching career

From 2002 till 2011 Gailītis was a professional basketball player. He played for such teams as Skonto,

ASK Rīga ASK Rīga is a former professional basketball club that was based in Riga, Latvia. "ASK" stood for "Armijas Sporta Klubs" (in English: Army Sports Club). History BK Rīga was then founded in 2004 as an attempt to revive the defunct club ...

and VEF Rīga. Since 2007, he was player-manager for VEF Rīga but at the 2010–2011 season was promoted to assistant coach. On 17 December 2015 Gailītis took over the head coaching duties, after Carlos Frade was fired. With Gailītis at the helm, VEF has won five Latvian championships and reached

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

quarterfinals twice. German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

side

announced on June 3rd, 2024 that Gailītis has agreed to become the new head coach of the team. On June 11, 2025, he signed with

SIG Strasbourg Strasbourg Illkirch-Graffenstaden Basket, most commonly known as SIG Basket or SIG Strasbourg, is a French professional basketball club that is based in Strasbourg. The club, founded in 1929, competes domestically in the French Pro A League. The ...

of the French

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

National teams

In 2011 and 2013, he was the assistant coach for Latvian U16 team. In 2014, Gailītis was the head coach for Latvian U16 team, which won a silver medal at the FIBA Europe U16 Championship. In 2015, he was the head coach for Latvian U18 team. Since 2021, Gailītis is an assistant coach for Luca Banchi in the Men's National Team.Banki asistenti Latvijas izlasē būs Gailītis un Visockis-Rubenis
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Honors and awards

Club career

**1x

German Cup The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English, is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundes ...

: (2025) *

BK VEF Rīga VEF Rīga is a Latvian professional basketball team that is based in Riga, Latvia. VEF Rīga is an twelven-time Latvian Basketball League champion. History Early years The club name VEF came from the radio manufacturing company VEF which create ...

**7x

Latvian Basketball League Gold: (2017, 2019-2024) **1x Flag of Latvia

Latvian-Estonian Basketball League Gold: (2022) **3x Flag of Latvia

Latvian Cup The Latvian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Latvian football. Since 2021, its full name is Responsible Gaming Latvian Football Cup (''Atbildīgas spēles Latvijas kauss'') due to the sponsorship by sports betting company ...

: (2022-2024) **3x Flag of Latvia

Latvian-Estonian Basketball League Silver: (2019, 2021, 2023) **2x Flag of Latvia

Latvian Basketball League Silver: (2016, 2018) **1x Flag of Latvia

Latvian-Estonian Basketball League Bronze: (2024)

National Team

FIBA Europe U-16 Championship Runner Up: (2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galitis, Janis 1985 births Living people ASK Riga players Basketball players from Riga BK VEF Rīga coaches BK VEF Rīga players Latvian basketball coaches Latvian men's basketball players Mitteldeutscher BC coaches