Panagiotis Vasilopoulos

Panagiotis Vasilopoulos was born on February the 8th 1984 and he is a Greek professional basketball player for AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League. He is 2.05 cm tall. He plays at both the small forward and power forward positions. Vasilopoulos was born in Maroussi, Athens, and grew up at his hometown of Ano Samiko in Ilia. He started to play basketball with the youth clubs of Ifitos Pyrgou. Later, he transferred to the youth clubs of Iraklis Pyrgou. 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 left PAOK, and joined Olympiacos Piraeus. Vasilopoulos was brought to Olympiacos in 2005, on a two-year contract. Olympiakos 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. With Olympiacos, he won the EuroLeague and Greek League championships in 2012. 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 Olympiacos. Vasilopoulos then signed with the Spanish League club Valladolid, in September 2013. He was released by Valladolid in December 2013, after suffering a knee injury. After being released by Valladolid in December 2013, Vasilopoulos then signed with the amateur level Greek club Ermis Piraeus, in April 2014. He then returned to play professionally again, with Nea Kifissia. Vasilopoulos then moved to the Greek club Koroivos, 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, playing with them in the Basketball Champions League 2017–18 season. On January 19, 2018, Vasilopoulos moved to AEK Athens, for the rest of the season. With AEK, he won the 2018 Final of the Greek Cup first and later in May the FIBA Champions League. Vasilopoulos played with Greek national junior teams at the 2004 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, 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. Vasilopoulos was a member of the senior men’s Greek national basketball team that won the gold medal at the EuroBasket 2005, and the silver medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship. He also competed with Greece at the EuroBasket 2007, the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualification. He is a player that can play either the small forward or power forward 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.
Awards and accomplishments
Pro career
6× Greek League All-Star: (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2018)
Greek League Best Five: (2007)
3× Greek Cup Winner: (2010, 2011, 2018)
EuroLeague Champion: (2012)
Champions League Winner: (2018)
Greek League Champion: (2012)
Greek junior national team
2002 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship:  Bronze
2003 FIBA Under-19 World Cup:  Bronze
2005 FIBA Under-21 World Cup:  Silver
Greek senior national team
EuroBasket 2005:  Gold
2006 FIBA World Championship:  Silver