If you’ve seen the Grand Valley State University men’s basketball team play this year, chances are, you’ve seen sophomore Kristers Zeidaks dunking over opposing defenders.

Zeidaks is just one of the many new faces on the men’s basketball team this year. His path from Latvia, along with teammate and childhood friend freshman Ernijis Ansons, makes for an interesting recruitment story.

Ansons and Zeidaks both hail from Raga, Latvia, where they have been friends since the age of eight. Even after Zeidaks decided to attend Mississippi State University, they still remained in contact with each other.

“We have been great friends at home,” Ansons said. “We played in Spain together. When he went to the Mississippi State and had a seven-hour time difference, we stayed in touch and Skyped a lot.”

Zeidaks competed in the U20 European Championships, and was a member of the U20, U18, and U16 national teams. While competing in the 2009 European Championships, he averaged 10.1 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per contest.

Zeidaks and Ansons have faced some NBA caliber talent in Europe, including a well-known NBA point guard.

“You can see many guys play in the NBA from the European Championships,” Zeidaks said. “I have played against Ricky Rubio and Alex Shved. It’s really good competition down there too. It’s tough and they are good games and good experience for your future.”

Ansons played for Alfreda Kraukla VEF basketbola, and was the league’s leading scorer in 2010 when he averaged 31.1 points per game. He was named the league’s most valuable player in 2009.

“Ernijis’ name was brought to us by a prep school coach in Las Vegas who recruited a bunch of international kids,” said head coach Ric Wesley. “Coach mentioned a player that he didn’t think he had room for that we might be interested in. Next thing we know, we’re getting YouTube tapes and videos and phone correspondence and things like that. It felt like it was worth bringing him over for a visit. We brought him over, and really were excited by his personality.”

After Ansons committed to GVSU, he eventually convinced Zeidaks to join him in Allendale after Zeidaks decided to transfer from Mississippi State.

“He needed to make a quick decision because the school year already started and we are really close,” Ansons said. This is one of the best Division II schools you can find in the entire nation so it wasn’t that hard.”

Transferring from one school to another can be difficult in its own right. Traveling from one country to another can be an even more difficult adjustment to undergo. For Ansons and Zeidaks, they find solace in knowing they have someone around that they can relate to.

“It’s really helpful,” Ansons said. “We stick together. The team can see we’re really close friends and it’s nice to speak in Latvian once in a time. It’s nice to talk about some stuff that’s going on at home. We talk about European basketball, and it’s a big support. We help each other out by being just close.”

Zeidaks is averaging 8 points per game, along with 5.4 rebounds per game so far for GVSU. Ansons averages 2.5 points per game, while seeing 13.3 minutes of action per contest.

“Both guys are really good workers,” Wesley said. “We’re happy with both of them and we love having them both. I think they both have great futures.”

[email protected]