Ignas Brazdeikis is the name that pops up when you talk about the impressively domineering figures in the world of college basketball. More popularly and fondly called ‘Iggy’ by fans around America who have come to revere his style of play, Brazdeikis is now proving to be one of the formidable basketball players who is destined to become a household name.
The young man who plays in the forward position for the Michigan Wolverines is a Lithuanian Canadian and represents the Canadian team in international competitions.
Ignas Brazdeikis Biography, Family
Ignas Brazdeikis was born in Kaunas, on January 8, 1999. His family soon immigrated to the USA when he was still young. At first, they moved to the city of Chicago but later settled in Ontario. Brazdeikis’ parents have been identified as Diana and Sigitas “Sigis” Brazdeikis.
Brazdeikis had always been a tall young man who towered above his mates and soon began to show signs he wanted to seize advantage of that and become a professional basketball player. It was not long before he got his chance to play the beautiful game when he began school.
Stats
Ignas Brazdeikis attended the Orangeville District Secondary School and played basketball with the Orangeville Prep, the team which represented the school. The young man who happens to be generally right-handed perpetually showed very impressive skills on the court, wowed the audience, and eventually led Orangeville Prep to the 2017 OSBA championship.
In fact, Brazdeikis helped the team win the tournament and went on to win the tournament MVP award. It is noteworthy that even though he is right-handed, he shoots the basketball left-handed.
College Career
After graduating from the Orangeville District Secondary School, Brazdeikis accepted an offer from the University of Michigan to join them. Upon gaining entrance to the university, he promptly joined the Michigan Wolverines, the basketball team which represents the institution. He has since begun to show very impressive displays on the basketball court.
The young man made his debut for the Michigan Wolves in November 2018, during a match against Norfolk State. Brazdeikis scored 12 points in the game which the Michigan Wolves eventually won 63–44. He had started with a bang and was not showing signs of slowing. In his second game, he added 19 points. This is included as many as 15 points which he banged in in the very first five minutes of the second half.
Brazdeikis was bent on thrilling the fans with every performance he put up and this is practically what he has been doing. On the 18th of November, the young man scored a game-high 20 points during a match to help the Michigan Wolves beat Providence 66–47 and eventually won the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament. He went on to score 20 points in two more consecutive games against two highly ranked teams; Chattanooga and North Carolina. He was elated about his success and posted about it on Instagram.
For his performance, he was duly recognized as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on the 3rd of December. He was recognized yet again as a Big Ten Freshman of the week on December 10 after an impressive showing during a match against Northwestern in which he scored 23 points and a match against South Carolina in which he scored 17 points. Brazdeikis was fast becoming a fans’ favorite.
The star player was relentless in his passionate display on the court and on December 30, he helped the Michigan Wolves defeat Binghamton 74–52. Brazdeikis scored an amazing 21 points in that match and won the Big Ten Freshman of the Week recognition for the third straight time that December.
When the year 2019 started, Brazdeikis was in high spirits, determined to do much more than he had done in 2018. He began the year by scoring his first career double-double (16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds) in a match against Penn State in which the Michigan Wolves won 68-55. However, even though he helped the team beat Northwestern on January 13 to set a school record for best start at 17–0, Brazdeikis failed to score in a match against Wisconsin on January 19 as Michigan Wolves lost 64–54. He soon returned to scoring form on January 25 when he banged in a game-high 20 points.
Ignas Brazdeikis went on to continue his impressive displays, winning the respect of fans and colleagues. In fact, on January 28, he earned his fourth Big Ten Freshman of the Week recognition for his dazzling display on the basketball court. With this, Brazdeikis became the record holder for the most Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards surpassing Tim Hardaway Jr. and Nik Stauskas.
On the 5th of February, Brazdeikis stunned fans when he scored a game-high 23 points and hit a career-high five three-pointers in a match against Rutgers which Michigan won 77–65.
At the moment, this star basketball player is not showing signs of slowing down at all and is widely expected to grow into one of the legendary greats in the game. For his fine showing, he was nominated for the Karl Malone Award and was named among the top 10 finalists on February 7.
See Also: Who is Filip Petrusev? Biography, Stats, Height, Weight, Strength & Weakness
National Team Career
Apart from playing for the Michigan Wolves, Brazdeikis has also shone for his national team. The young man played with Team Canada at the 2015 FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship, where he earned a silver medal. At the tournament, he averaged 9.2 points and 7.2 rebounds in every game.
Brazdeikis also played for Canada during the 2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship, a tournament where he averaged 4.7 points and 6.9 rebounds every game. He also recorded some play time at the Nike Hoop Summit April 13, 2018, where he scored as many as 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Height
Brazdeikis is a tall man who stands at 6′ 6″ in height.
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