Rytis Petraitis remembers his parents’ struggle every time he’s asked to overcome obstacles.

Ramas and Reda Petraitis came to the United States from Lithuania with limited luggage and only $100 to their name.

The story has become a rallying cry for their son, Rytis. Running lines as a freshman, going through basic training or even keeping up with studies on top of military and athletic expectations — all spur visions of his mother and father coming over from a foreign country in search of a better life.

The two created what Air Force fans have come to know fondly as Jacob Burtschi 2.0. Reda handled rebounding practice, which was her specialty at Oregon State as she led the team to the top rebounding marks in the Pac-10. Ramas, too, was a Beaver, even though the two of them had to find the state on a map before committing to play there.

Rytis is setting the tone now, thanks to those who laid his foundation, for a Falcons team still in its developmental infancy. And doing a good job, too, if five Mountain West Freshman of the Week honors, including another one on Monday, didn’t already tell the tale.

“I was basically already playing

basketball when I was born,” Petraitis said. “My dad and I would go practice, find a place to work out, and be there for three hours — it didn’t matter what age I was.

“It made me a better, tough basketball player. I wore ‘31’ because of my dad — he wore it at Oregon State.”

Petraitis’ time at Air Force started slowly.

He attended the Prep School before Petraitis became a member of the active roster this year and played three minutes in the team’s opening loss to Bowling Green.

The last five games have seen the freshman start each and play every minute of the game in matchups with Colorado State and San Diego State.

And to think, the COVID-19 recruiting era nearly passed him by entirely, with offers from Division II schools outweighing those from the top division.

“You just watched him in high school and he impacted the game,” coach Joe Scott said. “He had a special motor. We knew we could work on shooting, and everything else, but that motor was going to be key.

“The advantage he has is that he continues to be himself. If something is hard, it won’t affect him, he’ll work through it.”

Fellow Falcons are developing the mindset that Scott already sees in Petraitis.

Aggression is going up for the sophomores and freshmen scattered across the roster, and much of it can be traced back to Petraitis’ tendency to dive into a crowd of defenders or give up his body in midair for a possible offensive rebound.

Even Rytis’ younger brother, Remis, is learning the ropes.

As the family of four stood along the court after a loss to the Aztecs on Saturday, Remis was lifted to the basket to test how far he still needs to go to dunk — mind you, his growth spurt is still years away.

Petraitis is becoming a name synonymous with high-energy Air Force basketball in its current era.

One look at what it took to get to Colorado Springs, for the entire family, and it’s obvious why.

“Every game, I want to prove to all the coaches who didn’t recruit me that they were wrong,” Petraitis said. “I feel like my parent’s struggles, too, made me realize I needed to do something big.

“The Air Force is a great place for that.”