RIGA (Latvia) - They reached the sweet sixteen phase in 2020-21, but that only made them hungrier for more. VEF Riga are coming back to the Basketball Champions League after completing their domestic three-peat in Latvia.

The team also reached the Finals of the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League, but now face a different future with the Big Three of Kyle Allman, Michale Kyser and Isaiah Pineiro moving on. Coach Janis Gailitis is back behind the drawing board, here's what he came up with for 2021-22:

Kristers Zoriks, Artis Ate, Emils Krumins and Alexander Madsen are back, as well as the youngsters Peteris Pinnis and Raivo Butirins. Ilja Gromovs, Maris Gulbis and Anrijs Miska represent the Latvian newcomers to the club, while Ron Curry, Rayshaun Hammonds, Jalen Riley and Devondrick Walker are the new international players in Riga.

Ilja Gromovs is 27, and at 6'11''/2.11m he plays the center position. Gromovs is in his second run with VEF Riga, having already been here back in 2016-17 and 2017-18. He kept improving all the time, and last season, he put up 12.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game for Liepaja in the Latvian-Estonian League.

Gromovs has been a regular member of the youth national teams for Latvia. Same goes for Anrijs Miska, the 21-year-old forward who is getting his well deserved chance to showcase his talents in a bigger international event, such as the Basketball Champions League.

Miska is 6'9''/2.06m, and he played a fabulous season with Latvijas Universitate, averaging 13.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in the Latvian-Estonian League, and shooting 46.8 percent from beyond the arc for the season. Miska is one of the biggest prospects in Latvian basketball, BCL is his stage to prove it.

The biggest name among the Latvian newcomers is Maris Gulbis. A legend in arch rivals Ventspils, Gulbis switched back to VEF Riga, where he played 14 years ago. Now a 36-year-old, Maris has played nine years with Ventspils, putting up 16.6 points per game in 2020-21.

During his days at Ventspils, he played three seasons of BCL, and had 9.1 points per game in both 2016-17 and 2017-18. In 2018-19, Gulbis went for 11.7 points, done on 46.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

Ron Curry is like Gromovs and Gulbis, another player who is coming back to VEF Riga. He was here in 2019-20, before moving on to Falco Szombathely in Hungary and staying in the country with Alba Fehervar in 2020-21.

Curry is 28, he has averaged double figures in each of his three season at James Madison Dukes in the NCAA, and did the same for Krka Novo Mesto in Slovenia and Falco in Hungary. Two seasons ago he had 10.2 points per game for Falco in the BCL.

Rayshaun Hammonds is a rookie when it comes to European basketball. He is 22, and spent a season of his college career next to Anthony Edwards in the Georgia Bulldogs locker room, creating highlights along the way to keep the fans happy.

Hammonds averaged 13 points and 7 rebounds per game in 2019-20, which was his last NCAA season. He turned pro and played the NBA G League with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, getting minutes in 12 games in 2020-21.

In Jalen Riley, VEF Riga are searching for somebody to lead the scoring and win games in the clutch. Riley is 28, plays the point guard position, and his last season in Portugal was a successful one - 16.9 points on 47.2 percent shooting for deep in Porto's jersey.

Riley played for East Tennessee State Buccaneers, and his path across Europe was colorful. From Slovakia to Iceland, from Iceland to Lithuanian second division, where he had 26.3 points per game, and moving to France straight after that.

Even the most experienced international player is younger than 30 for VEF Riga. Devondrick Walker came to Riga after two seasons in Australia and New Zealand, and he played for Trieste and Brindisi in Italy, for Roanne in France.

During his time in the NBA G League, Walker was selected as the most improved player, and during the G League Showcase, he went 12-of-12 from beyond the arc over the course of two games. Walker averaged career best 20.2 point per game in New Zealand last season.