Rūdolfs Jurciņš


Rūdolfs Jurciņš was a Latvian basketball player. He played as a center. Jurciņš won a gold medal at the 1935 EuroBasket competition, becoming first European champion. He participated at the 1936 Summer Olympics, where Latvia national basketball team got 15th/18th place.
Jurciņš started to play basketball at the age of 15 in 1924. Before that he played football. He studied in the University of Latvia but didn't graduate. However he played for University basketball team Universitātes sports from 1930 until 1937. He was a six-time Latvian champion. His debut in Latvian national basketball team was in 1928. Overall, he played 23 games in the national team and was a team captain.
He was arrested in 1945 and deported to the GULAG camp in 1947. Rūdolfs Jurciņš died on 22 July 1948 in Molotov Oblast, Soviet Union.