Kostas Papanikolaou

Konstantinos "Kostas" Papanikolaou; (born August 1, 1990 in Trikala, Greece) is a Greek professional basketball player. He is 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) in height. He plays mainly as a small forward, but he can also play the power forward position.

Pro career

Papanikolaou began playing basketball with the youth teams of Proteas Grevenon and Aris and he made his pro debut in the Greek League with Aris Thessaloniki during the 2008-09 season. He was named the MVP of the Greek Under 21 All Star Game in 2009. He was also named the Greek League's Best Young Player in 2009. In 2009, he moved to Olympiacos.

Greek national team

As a member of the junior national basketball teams of Greece, Papanikolaou won the silver medal at the 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship and the gold medal at the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. He also won the silver medal at the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship. Papanikolaou also won the gold medal at the 2009 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, where he was also named to the All-Tournament Team and won the MVP award.

In August 2009, he made his debut with the senior Greek national basketball team in a friendly match.

Awards and accomplishments

• 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship: Silver Medal
• 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship: Gold Medal
• 2009 Greek Under 21 All Star Game: MVP
• 2009 Greek League: Best Young Player
• 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship: Silver Medal
• 2009 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship: Gold Medal
• 2009 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship: All-Tournament Team
• 2009 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship: MVP
• Won 1 Greek Cup: 2010

External links

• Euroleague.net Profile
• Aris Profile
• Eurobasket.com Profile
• FIBAEurope-U20.com Profile