Jānis Gailītis
Latvian professional basketball coach (born 1985)
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Jānis Gailītis (born 23 April 1985) is a Latvian professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach for SIG Strasbourg and the Latvia national team.
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Gailītis in 2025 | |||||||||||||||
| SIG Strasbourg | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Head coach | ||||||||||||||
| League | Pro A | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | 23 April 1985 | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Latvian | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2002–2010 | ||||||||||||||
| Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||
| Number | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Coaching career | 2010–present | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||||||
| 2002–2004 | BK Skonto | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2007 | ASK Juniors | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2010 | VEF Rīga | ||||||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||||||
| 2010–2015 | VEF Rīga (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2024 | VEF Rīga | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2025 | Latvia (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Mitteldeutscher BC | ||||||||||||||
| 2025–present | SIG Strasbourg | ||||||||||||||
| 2026–present | Latvia | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Coaching career
From 2002 until 2011, Gailītis was a professional basketball player. He played for such teams as Skonto, ASK Rīga and VEF Rīga.[1] Since 2007, he was player-manager for VEF Rīga but at the 2010–2011 season was promoted to assistant coach.[2] On 17 December 2015, Gailītis took over the head coaching duties after Carlos Frade was fired.[3] With Gailītis at the helm, VEF has won five Latvian championships and reached VTB United League quarter-finals twice.
German Bundesliga side Mitteldeutscher BC announced on 3 June 2024, that Gailītis agreed to become the new head coach of the team.[4]
On 11 June 2025, he signed with SIG Strasbourg of the French LNB Pro A.[5]
National team career
In 2011 and 2013, he was the assistant coach for Latvian U16 team. In 2014, Gailītis was the head coach for Latvian U16 team, which won a silver medal at the FIBA Europe U16 Championship. In 2015, he was the head coach for Latvian U18 team.
In 2021, Gailītis was named as an assistant coach on Luca Banchi's staff with the senior Latvia national team.[6] On 24 March 2026, Gailītis was appointed as head coach of Latvia.[7]
Honors and awards
Club career
Mitteldeutscher BC
- 1x
German Cup: (2025)
- 1x
BK VEF Rīga
- 7x
Latvian Basketball League Gold: (2017, 2019-2024) - 1x Latvian-Estonian Basketball League Gold: (2022)
- 3x Latvian Cup: (2022-2024)
- 3x Latvian-Estonian Basketball League Silver: (2019, 2021, 2023)
- 2x Latvian Basketball League Silver: (2016, 2018)
- 1x Latvian-Estonian Basketball League Bronze: (2024)
- 7x
