Rodions Kurucs

Rodions Kurucs
FC Barcelona Bàsquet B
Position Small forward
League LEB Oro
Personal information
Born (1998-02-05) February 5, 1998
Cēsis, Latvia
Nationality Latvian
Listed height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight 205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
Playing career 2012–present
Career history
2012–2014 VEF Rīga Skola
2014–2015 VEF Rīga
2015–2016 FC Barcelona Juniors
2016–present FC Barcelona B
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing Latvia Latvia
FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship
2014 Latvia

Rodions Kurucs (born February 5, 1998 in Cēsis) is a Latvian professional basketball player who plays as a small forward for FC Barcelona B, the reserve team of FC Barcelona, from Spain.

Professional career

Early career

In March 2014, Kurucs signed a multi-year contract with the Latvian club VEF Rīga,[1] after having played for the club's youth academy, VEF Rīga Skola, in Latvia's second men's division (LBL2). He made his debut on VEF's first team, during the 2014–15 campaign, logging his first minutes in Latvia's top-tier level league, the LBL,[2] in the Eastern European regional VTB United League,[3] and in Europe's 2nd-tier level league, the EuroCup.[4] He played at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament in 2015.[5]

FC Barcelona

In July 2015, Kurucs agreed to a four-year deal with the Spanish Liga ACB powerhouse FC Barcelona.[6] He then spent the 2015–16 season playing in the juniors club of FC Barcelona. In 2016, after turning 18 years of age, Kurucs joined the reserve team of FC Barcelona, FC Barcelona B, of the LEB Oro, which is the second-tier level in the Spanish basketball league system.[7]

Kurucs made his debut in the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague, on 24 March, 2017, in a 67–54 home win against Red Star Belgrade. In his first EuroLeague game, he logged 3 minutes of playing time, and scored 2 points.[8]

NBA draft rights

Kurucs entered his name into the 2017 NBA Draft,[9] being one of a record-high 182 underclassmen to do so that year. However, despite being consistently considered a first round draft pick throughout most mock drafts, Kurucs ultimately withdrew his name from the draft, on June 12; the deadline date that international players had decide to whether or not to withdraw their names from the NBA Draft.

International career

Kurucs played for the Latvian Under-16 national team at the 2014 Baltic Sea Cup, and at the 2014 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. He played a crucial role in helping Latvia win the silver medal at the tournament, as he averaged 13.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.1 blocked shots per contest,[10] en route to earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team,[11] and being selected to the Eurobasket.com's website All-European Championship Under-16 First Team.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "VEF Rīga sign Rodions Kurucs". www.vefriga.com. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  2. ↑ "Rodions Kurucs profile | Game center | FIBA.com". www.fiba.com. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  3. ↑ "Rodions Kurucs - game statistics, games, data, player photo Rodions Kurucs, VEF | VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  4. ↑ "KURUCS, RODIONS - Welcome to Eurocup". www.eurocupbasketball.com. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  5. ↑ "VEF Riga star Kurucs looks to stands for guidance". ADIDAS Next Generation Tournament. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  6. ↑ "FCB Lassa inks teenage star Kurucs for four years". Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  7. ↑ Federación Española de Baloncesto KURUCS, RODIONS (in Spanish).
  8. ↑ FC BARCELONA LASSA 67 CRVENA ZVEZDA MTS BELGRADE 54 MARCH 24, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Rodions Kurucs Enters 2017 NBA Draft". Hoops Rumors. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
  10. ↑ "Rodions Kurucs | U16 European Championship Men (2014) | FIBA Europe". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  11. ↑ "Tillie Towers Above The Competition | U16 European Championship Men (2014) | FIBA Europe". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  12. ↑ "European Championships U16 Basketball, Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Standings - eurobasket.com". www.eurobasket.com. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
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