Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, commonly known as Panos Vasilopoulos (alternate spellings: Panayiotis, Vassilopoulos) (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Παναγιώτης "Πάνος" Βασιλόπουλος; born February 8, 1984) is a Greek former 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 who currently serves as an assistant coach for

Peristeri Peristeri (Greek language, Greek: Περιστέρι, meaning "pigeon/dove" in Greek) is a suburban municipality in the western part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. With 139,981 inhabitants (2011 census), it is the seventh-largest municipali ...

of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

and the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercontin ...

, under head coach

Vassilis Spanoulis Vassilis "Billy" Spanoulis ( el, Βασίλης Σπανούλης; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and current basketball coach for Peristeri of the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League. S ...

. He is 2.05 m (6'8 ") tall. He played at both the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

and

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

positions.

Early years

Vasilopoulos was born in

Maroussi Marousi or Maroussi ( el, Μαρούσι, also Αμαρούσιο ''Amarousio'') is a suburb in the northeastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Marousi dates back to the era of the ancient Athenian Republic; its ancient name was Athmon ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, and grew up at his hometown of Ano Samiko

Elis Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was ...

. He started to play basketball with the youth clubs of Ifitos Pyrgou. Later, he transferred to the youth clubs of Iraklis Pyrgou.

Professional career

PAOK

Vasilopoulos began his pro career in 2001, with PAOK of the Greek League. He played with PAOK for four seasons, from 2001 to 2005. In the 2005 off season, he transferred from PAOK to joined Olympiacos Piraeus.

Olympiacos

Vasilopoulos was brought to

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

in 2005, by George Garbolas, on a two-year contract. Garbolas believed in his abilities, and that he could help the team to win championships. On May 20, 2008, he extended his contract with Olympiacos for another 4 years, at a salary of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

6 million

euros The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . T ...

net income In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, a ...

. With Olympiacos, he won the EuroLeague and Greek League championships in 2012.

Injury plagued seasons

On February 8, 2012, Vasilopoulos suffered a season-ending leg injury, just after he had returned from a previous back surgery. He was released by

. Vasilopoulos then signed with the Spanish League club

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

, in September 2013. He was released by Valladolid in December 2013, after suffering a knee injury.

Comeback from injuries

After being released by

in December 2013, Vasilopoulos then signed with the amateur level Greek club Ermis Piraeus, in April 2014. He then returned to play

professionally A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

again, in the Greek top-tier level GBL, with Nea Kifissia. Vasilopoulos then moved to the Greek club

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 ...

, for the 2015–16 season. Vasilopoulos next moved to the Greek club Kolossos Rodou, for the 2016–17 season. On July 26, 2017, Vasilopoulos signed with the Greek club

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki
...

, and played with them in the

FIBA Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercontin ...

's 2017–18 season.

AEK Athens

On January 19, 2018, Vasilopoulos moved to

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

, for the rest of the season. With AEK, he won the 2018 Final of the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most im ...

, as well as the FIBA Champions League championship.

Peristeri

On July 27, 2018, Vasilopoulos signed a 2-year contract with

of the

, where he eventually became the

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

. He averaged 7.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game during the 2019-2020 season. On August 17, 2020, he re-signed with Peristeri. On August 20, 2021, he officially parted ways with the club after three seasons and retired from professional basketball. In December 2021, Vasilopoulos joined the coaching staff of Milan Tomić in

. In July 2022, he renewed his contract and stayed on as an assistant to his former national squad and Olympiacos teammate

National team career

Greek junior national team

Vasilopoulos played with Greek national junior teams at the

2004 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2004 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship was the seventh edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The city of Brno, in the Czech Republic, hosted the tournament. Slovenia won their second title. Teams * * * * * * * * * * * * Squads Q ...

, and also at the 2005 FIBA Under-21 World Cup. With the Greek junior national teams, he also won the bronze medal at both the 2002 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, and at the 2003 FIBA Under-19 World Cup.

Greek senior national team

Vasilopoulos was 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 ...

that won the gold medal at the

EuroBasket 2005 The 2005 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2005, was the 34th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. It also served as Europe qualifier for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, giving a berth ...

, and the silver medal at the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by ...

. He also competed with Greece at the

EuroBasket 2007 The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2008 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to th ...

, the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, the 2019 FIBA European World Cup qualification, and the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

Player profile

Early in his career, Vasilopoulos was compared to the long-time Olympiacos player

Georgios Sigalas Giorgos Sigalas (alternate spelling: Georgios) ( el, Γιώργος Σιγάλας, link=no; born July 31, 1971 in Peristeri, Athens, Greece), is a retired Greek professional basketball player and basketball coach. During the decade of the 1990s, t ...

. He is a player that can play either the

positions, in both offense and defense. He can play in the post on offense, and can also pass well, and has 3 point range on his jump shot. In his playing prime, he was an excellent athlete, and was considered to be one of the best and most tenacious defensive players in Europe.

Career statistics

Domestic Leagues

Regular season

, 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

, align=center , GBL , 26 , , 23.1 , , .423 , , .365 , , .688 , , 5.4 , , 2.6 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , 6.0 , - , 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", Kolossos Rodou , align=center , GBL , 26 , , 27.1 , , .391 , , .329 , , .698 , , 5.9 , , 2.0 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , 7.7 , - , 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...

, align=center , GBL , 12 , , 28.0 , , .400 , , .356 , , .733 , , 5.8 , , 1.8 , , 1.2 , , .7 , , 7.8 , - , 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

A.E.K. A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in Nea ...

, align=center , GBL , 11 , , 16.1 , , .333 , , .250 , , .857 , , 2.8 , , .9 , , .5 , , .4 , , 3.6 , - , 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, align=center , GBL , 26 , , 29.1 , , .429 , , .382 , , .804 , , 4.8 , , 2.5 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , 9.4

FIBA Champions League

, - , style="text-align:left;" , 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 11 , , 27.4 , , .469 , , .520 , , .643 , , 5.4 , , 2.5 , , .7 , , 1.0 , , 8.9 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;" , 2017–18† , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 9 , , 11.5 , , .421 , , .417 , , .750 , , 3.0 , , .7 , , .4 , , .7 , , 3.0

References

External links

Euroleague.net ProfileFIBA Champions League ProfileEurobasket.com ProfileGreek League ProfileGreek League Profile

Spanish League Profile

Draftexpress.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasilopoulos, Panagiotis 1984 births Living people 2006 FIBA World Championship players 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players AEK B.C. players Aris B.C. players Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics CB Valladolid players FIBA EuroBasket-winning players Greek expatriate basketball people in Spain Greek men's basketball players Kolossos Rodou B.C. players Koroivos B.C. players Liga ACB players Nea Kifissia B.C. players Olympiacos B.C. players Olympic basketball players of Greece P.A.O.K. BC players Peristeri B.C. coaches Peristeri B.C. players Power forwards (basketball) Small forwards People from Elis Sportspeople from Western Greece