Jānis Gailītis
Gailītis in 2025 | |||||||||||||||
| SIG Strasbourg | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Head coach | ||||||||||||||
| League | Pro A | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | 23 April 1985 Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Latvian | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2002–2010 | ||||||||||||||
| Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||
| Number | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Coaching career | 2010–present | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| As a player: | |||||||||||||||
| 2002–2004 | BK Skonto | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2007 | ASK Juniors | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2010 | VEF Rīga | ||||||||||||||
| As a coach: | |||||||||||||||
| 2010–2015 | VEF Rīga (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2024 | VEF Rīga | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–present | Latvia (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Mitteldeutscher BC | ||||||||||||||
| 2025–present | SIG Strasbourg | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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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 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 and VEF Rīga.[1] Since 2007, he was player-manager for VEF Rīga but at the 2010–2011 season was promoted to assistant coach.[2] On 17 December 2015 Gailītis took over the head coaching duties, after Carlos Frade was fired.[3] With Gailītis at the helm, VEF has won five Latvian championships and reached VTB United League quarterfinals twice.
German Bundesliga side Mitteldeutscher BC announced on June 3rd, 2024 that Gailītis has agreed to become the new head coach of the team.[4]
On June 11, 2025, he signed with SIG Strasbourg of the French LNB Pro A.[5]
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.[6]
Honors and awards
Club career
- Mitteldeutscher BC
- 1x German Cup: (2025)
- BK VEF Rīga
- 7x Latvian Basketball League Gold: (2017, 2019-2024)
- 1x Latvian-Estonian Basketball League Gold: (2022)
- 3x Latvian Cup: (2022-2024)
- 3x Latvian-Estonian Basketball League Silver: (2019, 2021, 2023)
- 2x Latvian Basketball League Silver: (2016, 2018)
- 1x Latvian-Estonian Basketball League Bronze: (2024)
National Team
References
- ^ "Jānis Gailītis profile". basket.lv. Archived from the original on 2022-02-11. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
- ^ Gailītis pārņem "VEF Rīga" stūri, komandu atstāj Nankivils
- ^ @EurobasketNews (12 December 2015). "VTB United League - Janis Gailitis replaces Carlos Frade as head coach of VEF Riga" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Mitteldeutscher BC holt Letten Gailitis als Cheftrainer". Süddeutsche.de (in German). 2024-06-03. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
- ^ "Janis Gailitis nommé head coach – Massimo Maffezzoli et Julien Zoa assistants coach". sigstrasbourg.fr (in French). June 11, 2025. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
- ^ Banki asistenti Latvijas izlasē būs Gailītis un Visockis-Rubenis