Nicolas Pozoglou (born 11 February 1996) is an Australian-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 for AO Mykonou of the Greek A2 Elite League. He played three seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL) as a development player between 2017 and 2020, winning a championship with the Perth Wildcats in 2020. In 2021, he was named NBL1 West Most Valuable Player as a member of the

Cockburn Cougars Cockburn Cougars is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Cockburn Basketball Association (CBA), the major administrative basketball organisa ...

Early life

Pozoglou grew up in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, in the suburb of Penrith. He began playing

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

before switching to basketball in primary school. He attended St Dominic's College in Penrith and represented New South Wales at the 2015 Under 20 National Championships.

Basketball career

In 2014, Pozoglou debuted for the Penrith Panthers in the

Waratah League The NBL1 East, formerly the Waratah League, is a semi-professional basketball league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2021, Basketball New South Wales and the National B ...

. He subsequently joined the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...

of the National Basketball League (NBL) as a development player for the 2014–15 season. He did not play for the Kings during the season. In April 2015, he was named in an extended 25-man squad for the Australian Emus under 19 team ahead of the

2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship The 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Greek: Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα FIBA Under-19 2015) was the 12th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by th ...

. Pozoglou re-joined the Panthers for the 2015 Waratah League season. During this time, he battled stress fractures in his knees and later broke his foot which ruled him out for eight weeks. After Penrith withdrew from the league, Pozoglou moved to the

Bankstown Bruins Bankstown Bruins is a NBL1 East club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club fields a team in the Men's NBL1 East. The club is a division of Bankstown Basketball Association (BBA), the major administrative basketball organisation in the regi ...

in 2016 and helped the team win the Waratah League championship. He played a second season with the Bruins in 2017, averaging 19 points and 10 rebounds per game. Pozoglou joined the

Illawarra Hawks The Illawarra Hawks (formerly the Wollongong Hawks and The Hawks) is an Australian professional basketball team based in Wollongong, New South Wales. The Illawarra Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games ...

as a development player for the

2017–18 NBL season The 2017–18 NBL season was the 40th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between October 2017 and February 2018, followed by a post ...

. He appeared in four games during his first season. Following the NBL season, Pozoglou joined the Ballarat Miners of the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) for the 2018 season. In 20 games, he averaged 11.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Pozoglou re-joined the Hawks as a development player for the

2018–19 NBL season The 2018–19 NBL season was the 41st season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams have contested the league. The regular season had been played between October 2018 and February 2019, followed ...

, where he appeared in five games. Following the NBL season, Pozoglou joined the

Melbourne Tigers Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena. The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 as ...

of the newly established

NBL1 NBL1 is a semi-professional basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia, consisting of NBL1 South, South, NBL1 North, North, NBL1 Central, Central, NBL1 West, West and NBL1 East, East Conferences with both men's and women's compet ...

for the 2019 season. He was ready for a breakout season after an "up and down season" with Ballarat in 2018. In 19 games, he averaged 19.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game. In August 2019, Pozoglou signed with the Perth Wildcats as a development player for the

2019–20 NBL season The 2019–20 NBL season was the 42nd season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. Teams Nine teams competed in the 2019–20 Season with the addition of South East Melbourne Phoenix. Off-season changes *The ...

. He served as an injury replacement for Wani Swaka Lo Buluk early in the season. He was crowned an NBL champion in March 2020. He appeared in 10 games during the season. Pozoglou was set to re-join the Melbourne Tigers for the

2020 NBL1 season The 2020 NBL1 season was due to be the second season of NBL1, and the first season utilising the conference system after the Queensland Basketball League (QBL) and Premier League (South Australia) joined the league during the off-season. The sea ...

, but the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In November 2020, Pozoglou signed with the

of the

NBL1 West NBL1 West, formerly the State Basketball League (SBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Western Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Western Australia partnered with the National Basketball L ...

for the 2021 season. He was named NBL1 West Most Valuable Player,

All-NBL1 West First Team The All-NBL1 West First Team is an annual NBL1 West honour bestowed on the best players in the league each year. Under the State Basketball League (SBL) brand, a five-player team was named every year between 2005 and 2019. Alternating between the t ...

and NBL1 West Defensive Player of the Year. In 20 games, he averaged 17.1 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. In February 2022, Pozoglou signed with the Ballarat Miners of the NBL1 South for the 2022 season, returning to the team for a second stint. In 21 games, he averaged 10.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.7 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. Pozoglou returned to the Miners as captain for the

2023 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

and averaged 13.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.0 steals in 22 games. In July 2023, Pozoglou signed with

Koroivos Koroivos ( el, Κόροιβος, before 1955: Κελεβή - ''Kelevi'') is a village in the municipal unit of Gastouni, Elis, Greece. It is situated in a flat rural area, south of the river Pineios. It is 2 km southeast of Lefkochori, 2 ...

of the

Greek A2 Basket League The Greek A2 Basket League ( el, Ελληνική Α2 Μπάσκετ Λιγκ, link=no), is a professional basketball league in Greece. It is the 2nd-tier level of pro competition, among clubs in the country. It is organized by the Hellenic Baske ...

for the 2023–24 season. In 29 games, he averaged 7.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game. In June 2024, Pozoglou signed with

Mykonos Mykonos (, ; el, Μύκονος ) is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island has an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. There are 10,134 inhabitants according to the ...

for the 2024–25 Greek A2 season.

Personal life

Pozoglou's father is Greek. As of 2021, Pozoglou had applied for a

Greek passport Greek passports are issued to Greek citizens for the purpose of international travel. Biometric passports have been issued since 26 August 2006, with old-style passports being declared invalid as of 1 January 2007. Since June 2009, the passport' ...

. Pozoglou's partner is fellow basketball player, Molly Mathews.

References

External links

NBL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pozoglou, Nic 1996 births Living people Australian men's basketball players Australian people of Greek descent Sportspeople of Greek descent Basketball players from New South Wales Illawarra Hawks players Koroivos B.C. players Shooting guards Small forwards Perth Wildcats players People educated at St Dominic's College, Penrith