LTU – Exams before basketball for young World Champ stars

RIGA (FIBA U19 World Championship) – Lithuania may be basketball crazy but giving players special exemptions from school to play in a World Championship quarter final is a step too far.

When Lithuania took to the court on Friday to play Poland in the tournament’s first quarterfinal, it did not go unnoticed by some that their bench was two players short with Rokas Giedraitis and Rolandas Jakstas noticeable exemptions.
 
But their absence had nothing to do with injury – instead they were back in Lithuania retaking a Lithuanian language exam which they needed to pass in order to graduate from high school. It is understood that both players failed to pass the exam on their first attempt.
 
For obvious reasons, the players asked to take the exam on a later date but were sternly told that they had to take the exam before the end of Friday. Failure to do so would see them re-sitting their final year of high school.
 
Giedraitis managed to make it to Arena Riga midway through the second quarter but would take no part in the game while Rolandas Jakstas rang his coach Kazys Maksvytis to tell him he was still approximately 150km away.
 
With Lithuania going on to win the match against Poland, their absence was not sorely missed.

FIBA