Georgia Tech men's basketball added another piece to the 2022-23 squad early Tuesday morning with the commitment of wing Freds Pauls Bagatskis from Riga, Latvia. Bagastkis recently played in Spain for Valencia B.C. where he spent the last four years playing basketball both on the U18 team and the ACB club this year. He is a wing/guard type with a strong perimeter game.

Tech beat out several programs including Xavier to land Bagatskis.

"A lot of other programs showed me similar interest and opportunity but the level of professionalism from the coaching and support staff really stood out. Not to mention it being a development-centered program which was one of the main key aspects I was looking for when making a decision," he told JOL.

Pastner recruited Bagatskis personally and that level of attention and the detail work the Jackets' head coach did, really stood out to the talented wing.

"I like how he runs things," Bagatskis said of things that stood out to him about Pastner. "He is really an all hands on deck type of coach that stays on top of everything no matter how big or small. I also liked his mentality about bringing toughness to every practice so when game time comes it’s going to be a lot easier."

Given his experience in international play, Bagatskis believes the transition to the rigors of ACC play will be a smooth one.

"Spanish basketball specifically is a very distinct brand of basketball. You have to be very mentally tough to play over there. I think I’ll translate over well into college with being able to run the floor on fastbreaks, make reads, and shoot the ball at a high level, the same way I did over there," he said.

Bagatskis will spend the remainder of the summer playing in Europe before coming stateside to start the 2022-23 academic year at Tech in the fall.

"I plan on competing in the U20’s this summer so I don’t know exactly how and when I’ll start exactly. Once I finish up with that then it's a one-way ticket to Atlanta, that’s for sure," he said.

This is the first traditional commitment for the 2022 cycle for Pastner's squad. The Jackets also added transfer guard Lance Terry (Gardner-Webb) and forward Javon Franklin (South Alabama/Auburn) this offseason for the 2022-23 year.