ARLINGTON – New UT Arlington men's basketball head coach KT Turner has his first signee, and it comes in the form of Georgia Tech transfer and Latvian sharpshooter Freds Pauls Bagatskis.
 
A 6-8 forward who can stretch the floor with his long-range shooting prowess, Bagatskis (pronounced: fred paul buh-GAT-skis) joins the Mavericks after spending his freshman season at Georgia Tech in 2022-23 and boasts a wealth of international experience.
 
"Freds is a good athlete and a great play maker who can really shoot the ball," stated Turner of the Riga, Latvia, native. "He has tremendous size for his position, and he is a high-IQ talent who is going to be a great player."
 
Bagatskis – who chose Georgia Tech over Xavier and several other notable Big East programs – played sparingly with the Yellow Jackets, who employed an extremely minimal rotation as former head coach Josh Pastner during the ACC Tournament played just six men total – five whom averaged 37 minutes per game.
 
The 180-pound Bagatskis moved from Latvia to Valencia, Spain, at the age of 14 to attend school and better develop his game at one of the elite facilities in Europe. In 2021-22, he played for Valencia Basket Club team in Spain's LEB Silver League, and for two seasons prior to that he suited up for Valencia's U18 team, averaging 8.9 points and 2.5 rebounds in 22 minutes per contest.
 
Bagatskis' father, Ainars, played professionally in Europe and for the Latvian National Team for two decades before going on to be the head coach of the national side from 2011-17. He is currently the head coach of the Ukraine National Team.
 
Bagatskis learned his shooting aptitude from his father, who earned the nickname 'The Golden Hand' as a career 40 percent 3-point shooter and 90 percent free-throw maker, according to Bagatskis. He is still the all-time leading scorer for the Latvian National Team.
 
Beginning to follow in his father's footsteps, Bagatskis has played for both the Latvian U18 and U20 teams, the latter of which occurred last summer before enrolling at Georgia Tech. He also averaged 8.9 points and 1.4 rebounds for Latvia in the 2019 FIBA U16 European Championship.


SEASON TICKET DEPOSITS
Season ticket deposits for 2023-24 are already being accepted. With a one-time deposit of only $50/seat, fans can lock in their season ticket(s) to secure a spot in the state-of-the-art College Park Center for KT Turner's first year. For more information and to lock in a deposit, click here.
 
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