Pallacanestro Openjobmetis Varese has reached an agreement with Rihards Kuksiks. Born in 1988, Kuksiks signed a contract with the white-and-red club that will last until the end of the current sport season. A pure shooter with over 40% achieved throughout his career, Kuksiks has played in all national teams of his country. Best scorer in his team at Eurobasket 2011 with an average of 16 points, he also contributed to the qualification of Latvia in Eurobasket 2013 (12.1 points) and he holds the record of triple threats scored (7) in a single official competition played by his national team.

Profile

Date of birth: 17th July 1988

Place of birth: Riga (Latvia)

Height: 198 cm

Weight: 95 kg

Role: forward

Career

Born in Latvia, he grew up and trained in America. His role with Arizona State became increasingly more important after James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph, his college mates, were enrolled in the NBA. Best scorer of the Arizona team in 2009/2010 (12 points per game), he closed his career with the Sun Devils with a total score of 280 three-point shoots scored and 1,175 points. He made his debut with professional players in Spain. He played in the Spanish championship for one and a half years between Valencia and Lagun Aro GBC. In the middle of the 2012/2013 season, he left San Sebastián for Budivelnyk Kiev. With this team he played in the Eurocup and won the Ukrainian championship. In the following year, he went back to his homeland to wear the VEF Riga jersey (10.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) before an accident forced him to take a break. In November 2014, he was back on the court and signed up with the Jekabpils, scoring 15 points, 4,6 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 25 minutes of play in the championship and 16 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3 assists in two competition with Lega Baltica. In January, he left Latvia and moved to Russia for a very short experience with Avtodor Saratov before signing up with Nizhny Novgorod. With this team, he made his debut in the Euroleague (8.4 points in 7 games) and reached the semi-finals of the VTB United League. In summer, he signed a contract with an escape option with the Rumanian Pitesti with which he scored an average of 16.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 6 games.