Georgios Trontzos (alternate spelling: Giorgos) ( Greek: Γιώργος Τρόντζος; ) is a retired Greek professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

. At a height of 2.17 m (7'1 "), he played at the center position. In honor of his great contributions to the club as a player, his number 6 jersey was retired by AEK Athens.

College career

Trontzos played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

in the United States at Gonzaga University, with the

Gonzaga Bulldogs The Gonzaga Bulldogs () (also known unofficially as the Zags) are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing Gonzaga University, located in Spokane, Washington, United States. Gonzaga competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

. He was the second 7-footer in the school's history after Jean Claude Lefebvre, a 7'3" French native, who arrived at Gonzaga in the fall of 1957.

Club career

Trontzos started playing basketball with XAN Thessaloniki (YMCA). He then moved to the Greek club AEK Athens. With AEK, he won 5 Greek League championships (1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970). He also helped lead the team to the final four of the FIBA European Champions Cup of the 1965–66 season, which was the first time that the EuroLeague ever used a final four system, thus helping to lead a Greek team to a final four in the EuroLeague for the first time ever. He also helped to lead AEK to the championship of the European-wide 2nd-tier level

FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA E ...

of the 1967–68 season, which was the first European championship won by any Greek team. He scored 24 points in the tournament's final game. He also played in the Greek Cup Final with AEK twice, in the years 1976 and 1978. He was a member of the

FIBA European Selection FIBA All-Star Games were all-star basketball exhibition games, which were also known as "FIBA Festivals". The "FIBA Festival All-Star Games" were held from 1964 to 1995. The FIBA European Selection teams won most of the FIBA Festival All-Star Ga ...

team, in the years 1965 and 1967.

National team career

Trontzos was also a member of the senior men's

Greek national basketball team The Greece men's national basketball team ( el, Eθνική Oμάδα Καλαθοσφαίρισης Ελλάδος) represents Greece in international basketball. They are controlled by the Hellenic Basketball Federation, the governing body for ...

. In 136 caps played with Greece's senior men's team, he scored 1,543 points, for an average of 11.3 points per game. He played at the

FIBA EuroBasket 1965 The 1961 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1961, was the twelfth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Nineteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation ...

, the FIBA EuroBasket 1967, the FIBA EuroBasket 1969, and the

FIBA EuroBasket 1973 The 1973 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1973, was the eighteenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Venues Group stage Group A – Badalona Group B – Barcelona Knocko ...

. He also played at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments of 1964 and 1968.FIBA.com Georgios TRONTZOS (GRE).
/ref> He also played at the

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fir ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

Coaching career

Trontzos also coached AEK Athens, which he led to the final of the Greek Cup in 1980.

References

External links

FIBA ProfileHellenic Basketball Federation Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trontzos, Georgios 1942 births Living people AEK B.C. players AEK B.C. coaches Aigaleo B.C. coaches Centers (basketball) Competitors at the 1967 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 1971 Mediterranean Games Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball players Greek basketball coaches Greek men's basketball players Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Greece Mediterranean Games medalists in basketball X.A.N. Thessaloniki B.C. players Sportspeople from Veria