Freddy Petkus journey has been nothing short of remarkable. Born in Plunge, Lithuania, he spent the first 10 years of his life living in an occupied country under the boot of the Soviet Union. At age 10, he saw his country overthrow the Soviets and become the first former Soviet Block country to gain its independence. Through it all, basketball was a constant in Petkus life, and he followed it from his home country, to New Hampton prep school in rural New Hampshire, and on to a Division I scholarship at the University of Maine. Petkus coached for more than a decade after college before finally walking away from the game to launch his own business, Critical Mass Solar. He sat down to talk about his odyssey, including the immigrant experience, living under -- and overthrowing -- a dictatorship, the differences between the America and European game and what it takes to make it as an independent business man today.