Kevin Pangos

Kevin Pangos

Pangos taking a jump shot for Gonzaga.
No. 4 – Gonzaga Bulldogs
Position Point guard
League West Coast Conference
Personal information
Born January 26, 1993
Holland Landing, Ontario
Nationality Canadian
Listed height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight 180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High school Denison (Newmarket, Ontario)
College Gonzaga (2011–present)
Career highlights and awards

Kevin Joseph Pangos (born January 26, 1993) is a Canadian college basketball player for the Gonzaga Bulldogs of the West Coast Conference. He was named the 2015 WCC player of the year,[1] as well as a third-team All-American by Sporting News.[2] Pangos has also represented Canada at the international stage.

Early life

Like many young Canadians, Pangos played youth hockey. He had family connections to the gameβ€”an uncle played in the NHL, and a cousin was drafted by the Washington Capitalsβ€”but he did not like the sport as much as basketball.[3] In any event, he had much deeper family links to that sport. His father Bill played basketball for the University of Toronto[4] and finished his 26th season as the head women's basketball coach at York University in Toronto in 2013,[5] his mother Patty played Canadian Interuniversity Sport basketball at McMaster University,[5] and his sister Kayla played under their father at York.[3]

Growing up, Pangos' biggest inspiration was Steve Nash, a Canadian who developed into one of the NBA's top point guards and a two-time MVP. At training camps throughout his youth, Pangos paid special attention to stories about Nash; he recalled in a 2013 interview, "Someone would say, 'Steve Nash would make 500 shots a day.' I figured I had to make 500 shots a day."[5]

Although he played for various national and provincial youth squads, he frequently trained alone or with his father, as he found relatively little high-level competition in Ontario.[3]

High school career

Pangos played for Dr. John M. Denison Secondary School in Newmarket, Ontario. In his senior season, he led Denison to the OFSAA Triple-A title game where he scored a game-high 26 points in a 69-64 loss to Anderson CVI.[6]

Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Kevin Pangos
PG
Newmarket, ON Dr. John M. Denison (ON) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Nov 11, 2010 
Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 92
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

International career

Pangos played for the 2009 Canadian Cadet Men's National team that won bronze at the U-16 FIBA Americas Championship where he averaged 18.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 3.8 assists/game and 3.2 steals/game.[7]

Pangos also represented Canada at the 2010 U-17 FIBA World Championships where he averaged 15.8 ppg, 5 rpg, and 1.3 steals per game en route to a bronze-medal victory over Lithuania.[7]

In 2011, Pangos travelled with Canada's U-19 men's basketball team to Latvia for the FIBA U-19 World Championships. He finished second on the team in scoring averaging 13.5 ppg and led the team in assists with 3.1.[8] Pangos finished fourth among the tournament steals per game leaders at averaging 2.1.[9]

College career

Pangos received offers from several NCAA Division I schools including Michigan, Temple, UNLV, Portland, and Cincinnati.[10] Notably, he and Trey Burke were both offered scholarships to Michigan, but only on a first-come, first-served basis; Burke accepted first.[5] Pangos opted for Gonzaga after receiving favorable reviews from Kelly Olynyk and his family; the Pangos and Olynyk families are longtime friends in the closely knit Canadian basketball community.[5]

In his second NCAA game against Washington State he scored 33 points and tied a school record with nine three pointers made in an 89-81 victory. This game kicked off a stellar 2011-12 freshman season at Gonzaga, as Pangos led the team in many statistical categories including points, assists, steals, minutes played, 3-pointers made, and free throw percentage. He helped Gonzaga to a 13-3 record in the West Coast Conference, good enough for second place, and a 26-7 overall record.

In the WCC semi-finals Pangos led Gonzaga by BYU in a 77-58 victory, scoring a game-high 30 points on 10-17 shooting.[11] Pangos did not perform well in the 2012 West Coast Conference finals in a 78-74 overtime loss to Saint Mary's. Pangos shot just 3-18 from the field and 1-10 from three-point range.[12]

Gonzaga entered the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament as a #7 seed. In his first NCAA tournament appearance, Pangos scored 13 points on 5-7 shooting and added 5 assists in a lop-sided 77-54 victory over West Virginia; however, Gonzaga would lose to #2-seeded Ohio State in the third round of the tournament 73-66. Pangos would score just 10 points on 3-13 shooting.[13]

On January 29, 2015 against Portland, Pangos broke Blake Stepp's three points record of 288 with a wide open 3 with approximately 15 minutes left in the first half.[14] As of March 11, 2015, Pangos currently has a school-record of 313 3 pointers, which is good enough for fifth place all-time in West Coast Conference men's basketball.[15]

Awards and Achievements

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "WCC Announces 2015 Men's Basketball All-Conference Team". Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Sporting News' 2014-15 college basketball All-Americans". Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Medcalf, Myron (July 9, 2012). "From Canada to college basketball". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Gonzaga banks on a pair of Canucks for March Madness". Globe and Mail. March 13, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Anderson, Kelli (March 18, 2013). "Canada's Got Talent". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  6. ↑ "OFSAA 3A Championship Day Recap and Standouts". Crown Magazine. March 11, 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Kevin Pangos at Gonzaga Men's Basketball retrieved from http://www.gozags.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=26400&ATCLID=205237233
  8. ↑ Kevin Pangos at 2011 FIBA U-19 World Championships Latvia retrieved from http://latvia2011.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/11/fu19m/player/p/eid/5194/pid/75922/rid//sid/5194/tid/257/profile.html on June 8, 2012
  9. ↑ Player Leaders from 2011 FIBA U-19 World Championships Latvia retrieved from: http://latvia2011.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/11/fu19m/statistics/p/eid/5194/lid//rid//rpp//sid/5194/sp/ALL/ss/STE/srid/ALL/top-players.html On June 8, 2012
  10. ↑ Kevin Pangos. Yahoo! Rivals. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/player-Kevin-Pangos-116049. Retrieved on June 8, 2012
  11. ↑ ESPN Box Score http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=320632250 retrieved on June 8, 2012
  12. ↑ ESPN Box Score, March 25, 2012. http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=320652608 retrieved on June 8, 2012
  13. ↑ ESPN Box Score http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=320770194 retrieved on June 8, 2012
  14. ↑ "Kevin Pangos sets Gonzaga's 3-point record in rout of Portland". espn.go.com. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  15. ↑ "2014-15 WCC Basketball Notes" (PDF). Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 "WCC Announces 2012 Men's Basketball All-Conference Team". Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  17. ↑ "WCC Announces 2013 Men's Basketball All-Conference Team". Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  18. ↑ "WCC Announces 2014 Men's Basketball All-Conference Team". Retrieved March 3, 2014.


External links