VEF opens season against LU as Kosuškin begins second year as head coach

Ahead of the season, Riga VEF took part in the FIBA Champions League qualifying tournament, beating Baku Lions in the first round before losing to Warsaw's Dziki in the second. As a result, VEF will play in the main draw of the FIBA Europe Cup this season.

The team is led by Jevgeņijs Kosuškin, now in his second season as head coach, marking his 15th season overall in coaching. With Ventspils in the early 2000s, he won five consecutive Latvian championship titles. Kosuškin began his coaching career in 2012 with Jūrmala/Fēnikss, then spent 13 seasons as VEF's assistant head coach before taking over the top job last offseason.

Last season VEF finished without any of the three domestic titles and without even a Latvian league medal. This season the roster has been reinforced by recalling Aigars Šķēle, Ojārs Siliņš and Mareks Mejeris, who had been playing in Poland. Jordan Sears has been productive so far, while Isuf Sanon is still expected to need time before returning to the lineup.

LU tries a new model

The University of Latvia team is coached for a second straight season by Marts Ozolinkevičs. Last season the student squad began building its roster mainly around American players using the club as a springboard to European careers. This season the roster includes Reggie Thomas, Paige Hayes and Wayne McKinney, plus Ukrainian player Lev Koshevatskyi, who recently trained with Ukraine's national team.

Among local players, LU managed to sign Adrians Andžejs, who has debuted for Latvia's national team but is still recovering from a shoulder injury and will not play in the season's opening months. The only tall player on the roster is 209-centimeter Gustavs Vilškersts, so the students are expected to play a fast-paced style.

The game starts at 19:30 and will be broadcast by Best4Sport TV.