Lithuania set to reappoint Antanas Adomaitis as national team head coach

The Lithuanian Basketball Federation is preparing to confirm Antanas Adomaitis as the men's national team's new head coach. His candidacy will be presented to the federation's executive committee on Wednesday, with approval considered a formality.

Adomaitis will take over from Rimas Kurtinaitis, who resigned after this September's World Cup qualifying window. Kurtinaitis had considered leaving already in July but ultimately stayed on through the September games.

A return to the bench

This will not be Adomaitis's first stint leading Lithuania — he previously coached the national team from 2017 to 2019. During that period, Lithuania lost to Greece in the round of 16 at EuroBasket 2017, finishing ninth, and fell short of the quarterfinals at the 2019 World Cup, losing a decisive game to France.

For the past four seasons, Adomaitis worked with Japanese club Tokyo Alvark, where this year he helped the team win the Japan Cup for the first time since 2012.

Qualification stakes

The new coach inherits a challenging campaign in Group J of the 2027 World Cup qualifiers, where Lithuania currently sits fourth with four wins from eight games. To reach the final tournament, the team needs to climb to at least third place. Failing that, Lithuania risks missing the World Cup for the first time since 2002.