Rūdis Donis Moves from LU to Detroit; Several Young Latvian Basketball Players Head to the US
Latvian basketball player Rūdis Donis is leaving Latvijas Universitāte to join Wayne State University in Detroit, playing in NCAA Division II. Several other young Latvian talents have also chosen to study and play in the United States.
Rūdis Donis, who played for Latvijas Universitāte (LU) in the Latvian-Estonian League last season, will move to the United States after the European U-20 Championship to begin his college basketball career. A product of Talsi and Ventspils, Donis played in the Talsi system until age 15, then moved to Ventspils, where he debuted in Latvia's top league in 2022. After three seasons with Ventspils, he transferred to LU last offseason.
In the 2024–25 season, Donis appeared in 19 combined league games, averaging 9.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. His new school is Wayne State University (WSU) in Detroit, Michigan, which competes in NCAA Division II. WSU shares its home court with the Motor City Cruise, the NBA G League affiliate of the Detroit Pistons. Donis's departure means LU has lost two of its top Latvian scorers, as Francs Neilands previously left to join Gundars Vētra's Liepāja.
This offseason, several other young Latvian players have moved to US colleges. The most prominent is Gunārs Grīnvalds, who left Real Madrid to join UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles). Ričards Aizpurs, previously training in Italy, has committed to TCU (Texas Christian University). Iļja Kurucs, who played for Liepāja and Kalev/Cramo, has joined Georgia Tech. Meanwhile, Markuss Sipko from Valmiera has transferred to Loyola University New Orleans, which plays in the NAIA division.
