Virginijus Praškevičius (born 4 March 1974, in Kaunas

Kaunas

Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...

, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

) is a Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

n basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player. He played for the Lithuania national team

Lithuania national basketball team

The Lithuanian national basketball team is the representative for Lithuania in international men's basketball. Lithuania won bronze medals in three out of five Olympic tournaments it participated in....

 and for Lithuania Under-22 national team, taking part in Eurobasket 1997

EuroBasket 1997

-Venues:The tournament was played at three venues in Spain. Girona and Badalona hosted the first and the second round, while the entire knockout stage was played at Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona.-First round:-Group A:-Group B:-Group C:...

, World Championship 1998, Eurobasket 1999

EuroBasket 1999

-Group B:-Group C:-Group D:-Second round:- Group E :- Group F :-Championship bracket:-5th place bracket:- Quarterfinals :-Classification rounds:- Semifinals :- Third place game:- Final :...

, and 2003

Eurobasket 2003

-5th to 8th place:-Awards:-All-Tournament Team : Tony Parker Šarūnas Jasikevičius Saulius Štombergas Andrei Kirilenko Pau Gasol-Top scorers :# Pau Gasol 25.8# Andrei Kirilenko 23.1# Dirk Nowitzki 22.5# Mehmet Okur 18.7...

, where he took the Gold. He won also the gold medal at the 1996 European Under-22 Championship.

The 2.06 m power forward

Power forward (basketball)

Power forward is a position in the sport of basketball. The position is referred to in playbook terms as the four position and is commonly abbreviated "PF". It has also been referred to as the "post" position. Power forwards play a role similar to that of center in what is called the "post" or "low...

/center

Center (basketball)

The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...

 started playing for Banga Kaunas and in 1993–94 was bought by Lavera Kaunas. In 1995–96 decided to play for Atletas Kaunas together with Žydrūnas Ilgauskas

Žydrunas Ilgauskas

Žydrūnas Ilgauskas , or "Big Z" , is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball center who played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association...

. In January 1997 he passed to LaCrosse Bobcats in the Continental Basketball Association

Continental Basketball Association

The Continental Basketball Association was a professional men's basketball league in the United States, which has been on hiatus since the 2009 season.- History :...

.

In 1997–98 he came back to his home town Kaunas

Kaunas

Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...

 to play for Atletas and then for Žalgiris

BC Žalgiris

BC Žalgiris is a professional basketball team that is based in Kaunas, Lithuania. It is one of the oldest teams in the Euroleague and plays domestically in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga , and regionally in the VTB United League...

. With the best Lithuanian team he won a Saporta Cup

Saporta Cup

Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European professional club basketball competition, where the National Cup winners from all over Europe played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA Europe...

. Then he played two years for Beşiktaş Spor Kulubu

Besiktas Cola Turka

Beşiktaş Milangaz is a professional basketball team of Beşiktaş J.K., which is a sports club from İstanbul, Turkey. Their home arena is the Sinan Erdem Dome with a capacity of 16,000 seats...

 in the Turkish Basketball League

Turkish Basketball League

The Turkish Basketball League is the top men’s professional basketball league in Turkey, which is also called Turkish Premier Basketball League . There is also a Turkish Second Basketball League consisting of 2 divisions .-History:The first basketball game played in Turkey was at the Robert...

. In 2000 he passed to Basketball Club Oostende in Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, winning twice the Belgian National Championship and becoming once the MVP of the league. From 2002 until 2005 he played for Ülkerspor

Ülkerspor

-History:Ülkerspor had been founded in 1975 but its basketball department was created in 1993 by buying a Turkish League spot from Nasaşspor. It won Turkish League titles in 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2006 with greats including Harun Erdenay, İbrahim Kutluay, Michael Anderson, Orhun Ene, Kevin Rankin and...

 (but played for Hapoel Tel Aviv

Hapoel Tel Aviv (basketball)

Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C. is an Israeli basketball club. The second most successful side in Israeli basketball, The club Owned by Hapoel Tel Aviv Supporters Trust and is currently in Liga Leumit, the Second tier.-History:...

 for one season), and he won twice the Turkish National Cup.

In 2005–06 he played for Upea Capo d'Orlando

Orlandina Basket

Orlandina Basket, also known for sponsorship reasons as UPEA Capo d'Orlando is an Italian professional basketball club from the town of Capo d'Orlando, Sicily, Italy. It was founded in 1978, and is among the most recently founded basketball clubs in Italy...

, in Italian Serie A1

Serie A (basketball)

Lega Basket Serie A is the highest level club competition in Italian professional basketball where play determines the national champion. The season consists of a home-and-away schedule of 30 games, followed by an eight-team playoff round. Quarterfinals and semifinals series are best-of-five, and...

, in 2006–07 for Baloncesto Fuenlabrada

Baloncesto Fuenlabrada

Baloncesto Fuenlabrada, S.A.D. is a professional basketball team based in Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain, currently playing in the Liga ACB. The club was founded in 1981 as C.B. Fuenlabrada, and promoted to the Spanish Top Division in 1996...

 in the Spanish ACB

Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto

The Liga ACB, known as the Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Spain. It was founded in 1956 with the name of Liga Nacional. The league changed its name to the current one in 1983. The league is rated as one of the three "A" level European...

 and currently is playing for KK Juventus Utena in Lithuania.

External links

• ACB.com - Player Profile