Zisis Sarikopoulos

Zisis Sarikopoulos (alternate spelling: Zissis) (Greek: Ζήσης Σαρικόπουλος; born March 31, 1990, in Athens, Greece) is a Greek professional basketball player for Iraklis Thessaloniki of the Greek A2 Basket League. He is 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)^[1] tall, and he plays at the center position. His nickname is "Big Z".^[2]

Zisis Sarikopoulos
Ζήσης Σαρικόπουλος

Sarikopoulos with AEK Athens, in 2016.
Iraklis Thessaloniki
Position	Center
League	Greek A2 Basket League
Personal information
Born	(1990-03-31) March 31, 1990 (age 34) Athens, Greece
Nationality	Greek
Listed height	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight	265 lb (120 kg)
Career information
College	UAB (2007–2008) Ohio State (2009–2010)
NBA draft	2010: undrafted
Playing career	2010–present
Career history
2010–2012	Panionios
2012–2014	Aris Thessaloniki
2014–2016	AEK Athens
2016–2017	Promitheas Patras
2017–2018	Panionios
2018–2019	Tsmoki-Minsk
2019–2020	PAOK Thessaloniki
2021	Iraklis Thessaloniki
2021–2022	Al Sadd
2022	PAOK Thessaloniki
2022–2023	Karditsa
2023–present	Iraklis Thessaloniki
Medals Men's Basketball Representing  Greece FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship 2009 Greece U-20 Team 2010 Croatia U-20 Team FIBA Under-19 World Cup 2009 New Zealand U-19 Team FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship 2008 Greece U-18 Team 2007 Spain U-18 Team

Early years

Sarikopoulos began playing basketball with the youth teams of the Greek club Olympiacos. He played at the 2007 Jordan Brand Classic International game.^[3]

College career

Sarikopoulos played college basketball at UAB, with the UAB Blazers, and at Ohio State, with the Ohio State Buckeyes. He left Ohio State early, to play pro basketball in Greece.^[4] Sarikopoulos averaged 1.35 points per game in his NCAA Division I career.^[5]

Professional career

In 2010, Sarikopoulos began his professional career with the Greek League club Panionios. In 2012, he moved to the Greek club Aris. In 2014, he joined the Greek club AEK Athens.

On July 17, 2016, Sarikopoulos signed with the Greek team Promitheas Patras.^[6] He returned to Panionios for the 2017–18 season.^[7]

On August 22, 2018, Sarikopoulos signed with the Belarusian team Tsmoki-Minsk.^[8]

On August 30, 2019, he signed with PAOK of the Greek Basket League.^[9]

On March 11, 2021, he signed with Iraklis of the Greek Basket League.^[10]

On October 5, 2021, he signed with Al Sadd of the Qatari Basketball League (QBL).^[11]

On November 10, 2022, Sarikopoulos returned to PAOK for the rest of the season. He left the club after appearing in only two games and instead joined Karditsa. In 12 league games, he averaged 1.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in 9 minutes per contest.

National team career

Sarikopoulos was a member of the Greek junior national teams. With the junior national teams of Greece, he played at the following tournaments: the 2005 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, the 2006 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, the 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship, the 2009 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, and the 2010 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.

In 2012, he was invited to practice with the senior men's Greek national basketball team, for the first time. In 2015, he was invited as a training camp player of the Greek senior men's national team for the first time.

Career statistics

Domestic Leagues

Regular season

Legend
GP	Games played	MPG	Minutes per game	FG%	Field goal percentage
3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game
PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high		Led the league

Note 1: Only games in the domestic competitions are included. Therefore, games in European competitions are left out.

Note 2: 2021-22 Games of Qatar Basket League, Qatar Cap and H.H. Amir Cap are included. Stats updated on April 4th, 2022.

Year	Team	League	GP	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2010–11	Panionios	GBL	16	4.4	.437	.000	.250	0.8	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.9
2011–12	Panionios	GBL	21	7.4	.733	.000	.550	1.2	0.1	0.3	0.2	3.6
2012–13	Aris	GBL	22	13.3	.723	.000	.500	3.2	0.5	0.3	0.5	4.7
2013–14	Aris	GBL	17	12.3	.564	.000	.451	3.8	0.1	0.1	0.7	4.9
2014–15	AEK	GBL	22	17.3	.666	.000	.511	4.7	0.9	0.3	0.6	6.6
2015–16	AEK	GBL	15	8.5	.666	.000	.933	2.7	0.3	0.3	0.4	3.1
2016–17	Promitheas	GBL	22	13.4	.648	.000	.512	3.2	0.3	0.2	0.3	5.1
2017–18	Panionios	GBL	26	20.5	.701	.000	.542	4.6	0.7	0.4	0.5	9.4
2018–19	Tsmoki-Minsk	VTB	26	24.4	.614	.000	.642	6.7	1.2	0.8	0.9	10.1
2019–20	PAOK	GBL	20	16.5	.535	.000	.742	5.3	0.9	0.3	0.4	5.8
2020–21	Iraklis	GBL	2	7.5	.333	.000	.000	1.0	0.5	0.0	0.0	1.0
2021–22	Al Sadd	QBL	29	35.7	.673	.667	.593	14.5	2.2	0.7	1.1	17.7

Playoffs

Year	Team	League	GP	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2011–12	Panionios	GBL	9	13.4	.735	.000	.312	3.0	0.5	1.0	1.0	6.1
2012–13	Aris	GBL	3	7.3	1.000	.000	.666	1.3	0.0	0.3	0.0	2.0
2013–14	Aris	GBL	2	12.4	.333	.000	.833	3.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.5
2014–15	AEK	GBL	3	14.0	.600	.000	.400	6.0	0.3	0.6	0.0	4.6
2015–16	AEK	GBL	6	5.3	.500	.000	.000	1.7	0.2	0.2	0.0	0.3

References

1. ESAKE.gr ΑΡΙΚΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ Ζήσης | HEIGHT 2.13 (in Greek).
2. HIGH SCHOOL.
3. Maroussi invests in center Sarikopoulos.
4. ESPN.com Zisis Sarikopoulos to play in Greece.
5. Zisis Sarikopoulos Career NCAA Stats.
6. "Promitheas land Mouhammad Faye, Zisis Sarikopoulos and Nikos Gikas". 17 July 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
7. Sarikopoulos is back at Panionios - Oct 1, 2017.
8. "Tsmoki" signed a review contract with Zisis Sarikopoulos
9. "Paok BC announces Zisis Sarikopoulos". Sportando. August 30, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
10. "Ανακοίνωσε τον Σαρικόπουλο ο Ηρακλής". 3 November 2021.
11. "Στο Κατάρ για την Αλ Σαντ ο Ζήσης Σαρικόπουλος".

External links

• EuroCup profile
• FIBA profile
• Eurobasket.com profile
• Greek Basket League profile (in Greek)
• Hellenic Federation profile (in Greek)
• Ohio State Buckeyes bio
• UAB Blazers bio
• ESPN profile
• VTB United League