Konstantine Demetrios "Kosta" Koufos ( Greek: ; born February 24, 1989) is a Greek-American professional basketball player who plays for the London Lions of the British Basketball League (BBL). He played one season at Ohio State before being selected by the Utah Jazz with the 23rd overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft.

High school career

Koufos attended

GlenOak High School GlenOak High School is a public high school in Plain Township, Ohio, United States, near Canton. It is the only high school in the Plain Local School District. Sports teams are called the Golden Eagles, and they compete in the Ohio High School ...

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...

, where he played center for the GlenOak Golden Eagles high school basketball team. As a junior, Koufos averaged 24 points per game, 11.1 rebounds per game, and four blocked shots per game and he was named Second-Team All-State. As a senior, Koufos averaged 25.9 points per game, 15.4 rebounds per game and 5.2 blocked shots per game. He was instrumental in GlenOak snapping Canton McKinley's 41-game win streak in January 2007, when he posted 32 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocks to help the Golden Eagles edge the Bulldogs, 56–55, in overtime. The next day, Koufos recorded 32 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocks against

Detroit Country Day Detroit Country Day School (also known as DCD, DCDS, or Country Day) is a private, secular school located in four campuses in Oakland County, in the U.S. state of Michigan, north of Detroit. The administrative offices, facility services, safety an ...

, to lead GlenOak to its ninth consecutive victory. Koufos finished second to future Buckeye teammate Jon Diebler in the Mr. Ohio Basketball voting. After his senior season with GlenOak, Koufos was named the Division I player of the year and was also named First-Team All-State. He also earned First-Team Northeast Inland All-District and third-team ''Parade'' All-American honors and participated in the 2007 McDonald's All-American Game and 2007 Jordan Brand Classic. Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Koufos was listed as the No. 3 center and the No. 16 player in the nation in 2007.

College career

Koufos played one season of college basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes. For the 2007–08 season, he was named third-team All- Big Ten and was named to the league's All-Freshman Team. He ranked fifth in the Big Ten in scoring (14.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg), and ranked second in blocked shots (1.8 bpg) and seventh in field goal percentage (.508). He helped the Buckeyes reach the final of the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

, where they won 92–85 over

UMass The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medical ...

behind Koufos' 22 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. He was subsequently named NIT Most Valuable Player. He declared for the 2008 NBA draft following his freshman season.

Professional career

Utah Jazz (2008–2010)

Koufos was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 23rd overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft. During his rookie season, he spent time in the NBA D-League on assignment with the

Utah Flash Orem, Utah Orem Orem, Utah Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal citie ...

. He went on to receive two assignments to the Flash during the 2009–10 season. In two seasons with the Jazz, Koufos played in 84 games and averaged 3.3 points and 2.2 rebounds.

Minnesota Timberwolves (2010–2011)

On July 13, 2010, Koufos was traded, alongside two future first-round draft picks, to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Al Jefferson.

Denver Nuggets (2011–2013)

On February 22, 2011, Koufos was acquired by the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

in a three-way trade involving the Timberwolves and the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

. On January 25, 2012, he signed a three-year, $9 million contract extension with the Nuggets. He averaged career-best figures in Denver, with 6.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.

Memphis Grizzlies (2013–2015)

On June 27, 2013, Koufos was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for

Darrell Arthur Darrell Antwonne Arthur (born March 25, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks for two seasons where he was part of the 2007–08 national championship team. He was draf ...

and the draft rights to

Joffrey Lauvergne Joffrey Lauvergne (born 30 September 1991) is a French professional basketball player for ASVEL of the French LNB Pro A and the EuroLeague.. He was drafted 55th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2013 NBA draft, who then traded his rights ...

. In two seasons with Memphis, he averaged 5.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

Sacramento Kings (2015–2019)

On July 13, 2015, Koufos signed with the Sacramento Kings. On June 30, 2019, Koufos became an unrestricted free agent.

CSKA Moscow (2019–2020)

On July 19, 2019, Koufos signed a two-year deal with CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League and the EuroLeague. He averaged 3.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. On May 27, 2020, the team opted out of the contract.

Olympiacos (2021)

On February 20, 2021, Koufos signed with Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague until the end of the 2020–21 season.

NBA G League Ignite (2021)

On November 5, 2021, Koufos signed with the NBA G League Ignite of the NBA G League.

London Lions (2022–present)

On July 13, 2022, Koufos signed with the London Lions for the 2022–23 BBL season.

National team career

Greek junior team

Koufos was a member of the junior Greek national under-18 team at the

2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international basketball competition held in Spain in 2007. Final ranking 1. 2. Greece 3. Latvia 4. Lithuania 5. Spain 6. France 7. Croatia 8. Turkey 9. Germany 10. Russia 1 ...

in Spain. He led his team to the tournament's final game, and although Greece lost in the finals to Serbia's under-18 team, Koufos won the tournament's MVP award, after leading the competition in points, rebounds, and blocked shots, with averages of 26.5 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks per game.

Greek senior team

In 2009, Koufos debuted with the senior Greek national basketball team, and he competed at the EuroBasket 2009, where he won a bronze medal. During the EuroBasket 2009 tournament, he averaged 5.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. He also played at the EuroBasket 2011, where he averaged 8.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Koufos also competed at the EuroBasket 2015, where he had his best tournament with the senior Greek national basketball team, as he averaged 10 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, in 8 games played. He also played with Greece at the 2016 Turin FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, where he averaged 7.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. From 2009 to 2016, Koufos has appeared in a total of 57 games, scoring 503 points(an average of 8.8 points per game).

Personal life

Koufos is the son of Greek immigrants Katerina and Alex Koufos, a pediatric doctor in Canton who died when Kostas was 9. Their parents were originally respectively from Messenia and Corinth. He has an older sister, Maria, and an older brother, Vasilios. Koufos holds dual citizenship of both the United States and Greece, thus making him eligible to represent Greece internationally. He can speak Greek.Papagiannis discusses recent success and the importance of mentorship from his teammates.
/ref> The Spider with roots from Messenia and Corinth.
/ref> In September 2018 he married fellow Greek-American Eleni Bourlas.

Awards and accomplishments

: *2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship: MVP *

2008 National Invitation Tournament The 2008 National Invitation Tournament (known through sponsorship as the MasterCard NIT) was a single-elimination tournament of 32 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that did not participate in the 2008 NCAA Div ...

: MVP * EuroBasket 2009:

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" , , align="left" , Utah , 48 , , 7 , , 11.8 , , .508 , , .000 , , .706 , , 2.9 , , .4 , , .3 , , .6 , , 4.7 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Utah , 36 , , 0 , , 4.8 , , .468 , , .000 , , .600 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , .1 , , .1 , , 1.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Minnesota , 39 , , 1 , , 8.6 , , .435 , , .000 , , .500 , , 2.5 , , .2 , , .2 , , .5 , , 2.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Denver , 11 , , 1 , , 8.9 , , .500 , , .000 , , .632 , , 3.0 , , .0 , , .2 , , .5 , , 4.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Denver , 48 , , 24 , , 16.5 , , .599 , , .000 , , .600 , , 5.4 , , .3 , , .5 , , .9 , , 5.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Denver , 81 , , 81 , , 22.4 , , .581 , , .000 , , .558 , , 6.9 , , .4 , , .5 , , 1.3 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Memphis , 80 , , 22 , , 16.9 , , .495 , , .000 , , .645 , , 5.2 , , .5 , , .4 , , .9 , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Memphis , 81 , , 3 , , 16.6 , , .508 , , .000 , , .647 , , 5.3 , , .5 , , .4 , , .8 , , 5.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Sacramento , 78 , , 14 , , 19.0 , , .532 , , .000 , , .548 , , 5.4 , , .4 , , .5 , , .9 , , 6.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Sacramento , 71 , , 62 , , 20.0 , , .551 , , .000 , , .613 , , 5.7 , , .7 , , .5 , , .7 , , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Sacramento , 71 , , 12 , , 19.6 , , .571 , , .000 , , .446 , , 6.6 , , 1.2 , , .7 , , .5 , , 6.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Sacramento , 42 , , 1 , , 12.0 , , .477 , , .000 , , .417 , , 4.2 , , .9 , , .4 , , .4 , , 3.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 686 , , 228 , , 16.4 , , .534 , , .000 , , .582 , , 5.0 , , .5 , , .7 , , .4 , , 5.7

Playoffs

, - , align="left" ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, align="left" , Utah , 9 , , 0 , , 3.4 , , .400 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .1 , , .9 , - , align="left" ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, align="left" , Denver , 1 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 2.0 , - , align="left" ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, align="left" , Denver , 3 , , 2 , , 8.7 , , .333 , , .000 , , .000 , , 3.7 , , .0 , , .0 , , .3 , , .7 , - , align="left" ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, align="left" , Denver , 6 , , 2 , , 16.7 , , .368 , , 1.000 , , .833 , , 3.5 , , .5 , , .5 , , .7 , , 3.3 , - , align="left" ,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, align="left" , Memphis , 7 , , 0 , , 6.4 , , .438 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 2.1 , , .3 , , .3 , , .4 , , 2.6 , - , align="left" ,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, align="left" , Memphis , 11 , , 0 , , 11.5 , , .540 , , .000 , , .600 , , 3.5 , , .4 , , .4 , , .5 , , 3.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 37 , , 4 , , 8.9 , , .460 , , 1.000 , , .800 , , 2.6 , , .2 , , .2 , , .4 , , 2.4

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", CSKA Moscow , 17 , , 1 , , 9.3 , , .547 , , – , , .556 , , 2.8 , , 0.2 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 3.7 , , 4.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;", Olympiacos , 8 , , 5 , , 10.1 , , .529 , , – , , .200 , , 2.3 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 4.6 , , –

College

, - , align="left" , 2007–08 , align="left" , Ohio State , 37 , , 35 , , 27.1 , , .508 , , .349 , , .680 , , 6.7 , , .5 , , .4 , , 1.8 , , 14.4

References

External links

Career statistics and player information from NBA.com
* * ttps://www.basket.gr/playerview/?playerid=1307 {{DEFAULTSORT:Koufos, Kosta 1989 births Living people American men's basketball players American people of Greek descent Basketball players from Canton, Ohio Centers (basketball) Denver Nuggets players Greek men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Memphis Grizzlies players Minnesota Timberwolves players National Basketball Association players from Greece NBA G League Ignite players Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) PBC CSKA Moscow players Power forwards (basketball) Sacramento Kings players Utah Jazz players Utah Jazz draft picks