Basketball Varese is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement with wing, Artūrs Strautiņš. The Italian-Latvian, class of ’98, has signed a two-year contract with the Red & Whites, leaving an option open for a third. Strautiņš comes to Varese following an excellent season in Serie A2 where he scored 11.7 points and 4.3 rebounds on average in 6 appearances. **Artūrs Strautiņš, forward Openjobmetis Varese Basketball:** *«I am very happy with the agreement with Varese Basketball, a historical team on the Italian basketball landscape. I am already getting ready for the next season where the Red & White’s fans and I are going to fight many battles. I can’t wait to get going»*. Born in Jūrmala on 23 October 1998, Strautiņš began playing basketball wearing a DSN Rīga jersey, the team with whom he also made his début in the First Team, becoming the second youngest player to make his début in the LBL at the age of 14 years, 11 months and 27 days. In the summer of 2014, he was brought to Reggio Emilia where, in addition to continuing his journey with the youth sector (where he obtained his Italian training), he made his début in Serie A and the Eurocup. In 2017 he transferred to Orlandina, where he put in only 4 appearances until he moved on loan to Orzinuovi in November, ending the A2 championship with 11.1 points and 7.3 average rebounds in 22 games. He signed a three-year contract in the 2018-2019 season with Trieste. In his first year, he made a valuable contribution and, with the 7 points and 4 rebounds per game, he helped lead the Red & Whites to the play-offs. His personal efficiency rating improved in the quarter-finals, but Coach Dalmasson’s team was forced to surrender to Cremona. Despite having a good year, in the year that followed (2019-2020), Strautiņš did not manage to find space in the ranks of Trieste. He thus decided to terminate his agreement with the Red & Whites and move to Udine, to A2, where he ended the season with 11.7 points (36% 3-pointers and 38% 2-pointers) and 4.3 rebounds on average.