Leo Rautins

Leo R. Rautins (born 20 March 1960) is a Lithuanian-Canadian former basketball player, the former head coach of the Canadian national men's basketball team, and currently a television analyst for the Toronto Raptors.

Rautins was born in Toronto, Ontario and was a star in high school for St. Michael's College School in Toronto, the University of Minnesota for his freshman year of college, and Syracuse University for three seasons. At Minnesota, Rautins was named first-team All Big-Ten rookie, averaging 8.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists a game. As a member of the Syracuse Orangemen, he averaged 12.1 points, 5.0 assists, and 6.2 rebounds. He is the first player ever to record a triple-double in Big East play, accomplishing the feat twice in the span of a month during his senior year. He was named All Big East third team and Honorable Mention All American that year.

The 6 ft 8 in, 215 lb Rautins was the first Canadian ever drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft going 17th overall to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1983 Draft. Hampered by knee problems, he played in 28 games as a rookie with the Sixers, averaging just 7 minutes a game, 1.5 points, 1 assist, 1.2 rebounds, and 0.7 turnovers. He went on to play 4 games for the Atlanta Hawks the following season, averaging a mere 3 minutes a contest before leaving the NBA to play in Europe. Rautins played in Italy for Serie A1 team Banco Roma (1985–1986) and Serie A2 team Citrosil Verona (1986–1987), in France with Pau Orthez (1989–90 and 1992), and in Spain (1991–92). At the time of his retirement, he had undergone a total of 14 knee operations.

When Rautins made his debut for the Canada senior national team in early 1977 while still age 16, he was the youngest player in the team's history. This record would last until August 2010, when Rautins named Toronto-area high school phenom Kevin Pangos, also 16 but younger than Rautins was at his debut, to the squad for a tour of Italy.^[1] Rautins completed his national team playing career in 1992 as Canada was eliminated in the Tournament of the Americas, the Basketball qualifying tournament for the Barcelona Olympics.

Upon retirement, Rautins became a basketball commentator, most notably with the Toronto Raptors television network. A member of Canada's Basketball Hall of Fame, he was named head coach of the Canadian National Team in February, 2005. He resigned from that position in September 2011, after Canada lost to Panama in the FIBA Americas Tournament.^[2] Rautins' son Andy has followed in his father's footsteps, having been drafted by the New York Knicks in 2010. Leo and his wife have three other sons.^{[citation needed]}

Notes and references

External links

• Orangehoops.org with a Rautins's profile
• FIBA.com with news of Rautins being hired as Canadian Head Coach
• Profile on Rautins and the other 17 Canadians to play in the NBA