BK Ventspils

BK Ventspils was founded in 1994. In first years Ventspils proved themselves as relevant part of Latvian basketball, but major step came in 1997 when Ventspils Olympic Center was built. At that time Ventspils started to play in international competitions playing in 1997–98 edition of FIBA Korać Cup, which was followed by playing in FIBA Saporta Cup. Meanwhile, in the Latvian League Ventspils reached finals in both 1998 and 1999, but in 2000 they won their first domestic title and then went on to win seven consecutive from 2000 to 2006. The team won its eight Latvian League championship in 2009.^[1]

During that championship run Ventspils also had great performances in European competitions. In the 2002–03 season Ventspils reached FIBA Champions Cup Final Four, where they finished third. In the 2003–04 season Ventspils debuted in the ULEB Cup competition, making eighthfinals. In the 2004–05 ULEB Cup season, Ventspils reached new heights and missed semifinals after, losing by one point in two game series against Hemofarm. Before the 2009–10 season, Ventspils participated in the EuroLeague Qualifying round, becoming the first Latvian team to do so.

Ventspils has been a team for many players to establish themselves on the European stage, such as Mire Chatman, Marijonas Petravičius, Jānis Blūms, Brent Wright, and others, who later had successful careers at the EuroLeague level.

In 2013, BK Ventspils became the first Latvian club to have won the Baltic Basketball League, after winning the first leg by a score of 69:91,^[2] and losing the second, by a score of just 70:73,^[3] in the finals against Prienai, from Lithuania. In the following season, BK Ventspils won their first Latvian League title since 2009, becoming the champions of the 2014 Latvian Basketball League campaign.

League

• Latvian-Estonian League

Winners (1): 2019

• Latvian League:

Winners (10): 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2014, 2018

Runners-up (12): 1998, 1999, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023

Bronze (5): 1996, 2008, 2010, 2016, 2020

• Latvian Cup

Runners-up (1): 2022

• Baltic League

Winners (1): 2013

Runners-up (1): 2015

Bronze (2): 2007, 2010

• North European Basketball League

Bronze (1): 2002

• FIBA Europe Champions Cup

Bronze (1): 2003

BK Ventspils roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age G 2 Artūrs Ausējs 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 33 – (1990-12-16)16 December 1990 G 5 Ishmael El-Amin 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 81 kg (179 lb) 25 – (1998-12-02)2 December 1998 SG 6 Dāvis Dāvids Ozers 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 20 – (2004-03-28)28 March 2004 PG 7 Renārs Birkāns 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 82 kg (181 lb) 26 – (1997-06-26)26 June 1997 SG 8 Valters Vēveris  1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 82 kg (181 lb) 24 – (2000-04-21)21 April 2000 PF 15 Toma Vasiljević 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 23 – (2000-10-07)7 October 2000 F 23 Linards Jaunzems 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 28 – (1995-10-03)3 October 1995 G 24 Daeshon Francis 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 28 – (1996-01-26)26 January 1996 C 30 Ronalds Zaķis 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 110 kg (243 lb) 36 – (1987-07-08)8 July 1987 C 31 Edvards Mežulis 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 115 kg (254 lb) 24 – (2000-01-14)14 January 2000 PF 42 Rūdis Donis 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 85 kg (187 lb) 17 – (2006-11-12)12 November 2006 PG 44 Jānis Censonis 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 75 kg (165 lb) 19 – (2005-02-08)8 February 2005 F 45 Toms Salnājs 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 87 kg (192 lb) 19 – (2005-02-25)25 February 2005	Head coach Gints Fogels Assistant coach(es) Andris Gūtmanis Edgars Seredjuks Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: October 6, 2023

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Ronalds Zaķis	Edvards Mežulis
PF	Toma Vasiljević	Rūdis Donis
SF	Linards Jaunzems	Dāvis Dāvids Ozers	Toms Salnājs
SG	Artūrs Ausējs	Daeshon Francis	Valters Vēveris
PG	Ishmael El-Amin	Renārs Birkāns	Jānis Censonis

• Official Website (in Latvian)
• Eurocup Team Page
• FIBA Europe Team Page
• Baltic League Team Page
• Latvian League Team Page
• Eurobasket.com Team Page