Latvian Guard Miglinieks Commits to Play Basketball at UC Irvine

Raimonds Miglinieks, a highly recruited 6-foot-3 point guard from Riverside City College, has signed a letter of intent to play at UC Irvine, Riverside Coach Bob Schermerhorn said Saturday night.

Miglinieks, 23, is from Latvia and served two years in the Soviet Red Army. He was being recruited by Cal, Seton Hall and Arkansas as well as Irvine.

He soon could be joined at Irvine by Maz Trakh, an assistant to Schermerhorn at Riverside. Trakh, brother of former Brea-Olinda Coach Mark Trakh, would fill the position opened when Irvine Coach Rod Baker failed to renew the contract of assistant Rob Orellana.

Miglinieks was the Orange Empire Conference player of the year last season and also an all-state selection. In two seasons at Riverside, he set a school career assist record with 828 and averaged 13 points. Riverside advanced to the State semifinals both seasons Miglinieks played there.

“He’s the best player I ever coached, and the great thing about him is that he makes the other players on the court so much better,” Schermerhorn said. “And he has absolutely no ego.

“I think a lot of his decision had to do with location. He’s developed a lot of friends in the area after coming here and knowing absolutely no one.”