Kosta Koufos

Kosta Koufos

Koufos (#41) during his tenure with the Denver Nuggets
No. 41 – Memphis Grizzlies
Position Center
League NBA
Personal information
Born February 24, 1989
Canton, Ohio
Nationality Greek / American
Listed height 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight 265 lb (120 kg)
Career information
High school GlenOak (Canton, Ohio)
College Ohio State (2007–2008)
NBA draft 2008 / Round: 1 / Pick: 23rd overall
Selected by the Utah Jazz
Pro career 2008–present
Career history
2008–2010 Utah Jazz
2009–2010 →Utah Flash (D-League)
2010–2011 Minnesota Timberwolves
2011–2013 Denver Nuggets
2013–present Memphis Grizzlies
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Konstantine Demetrios "Kosta" Koufos (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Δημήτριος "Κώστας" Κουφός; born February 24, 1989) is a Greek-American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 23rd overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft. Koufos played college basketball for Ohio State for one year before declaring for the 2008 NBA draft.

High school career

Koufos attended GlenOak High School in Canton, Ohio, where he played center for the GlenOak Golden Eagles high school basketball team. As a junior, Koufos averaged 24 points per game, 11.1 rebounds per game, and four blocked shots per game and he was named Second-Team All-State.

As a senior, Koufos averaged 25.9 points per game, 15.4 rebounds per game and 5.2 blocked shots per game. He was instrumental in GlenOak snapping Canton McKinley's 41-game win streak in January 2007, when he posted 32 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocks to help the Golden Eagles edge the Bulldogs, 56–55, in overtime. The next day, Koufos recorded 32 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocks against Detroit Country Day, to lead GlenOak to its ninth consecutive victory.

Koufos finished second to future Buckeye teammate Jon Diebler in the Mr. Ohio Basketball voting. After his senior season with GlenOak, Koufos was named the Division I player of the year and was also named First-Team All-State. He also earned First-Team Northeast Inland All-District honors and participated in the 2007 McDonald's All-American Game and 2007 Jordan Brand Classic.

Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Koufos was listed as the No. 3 center and the No. 16 player in the nation in 2007.[1]

College career

In 2007, Koufos joined the Ohio State Buckeyes, where he replaced Greg Oden at center.[2] He was named the MVP of the 2008 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) after leading the Buckeyes to the championship by defeating the UMass Minutemen by a score of 92–85.

Over the course of his year at Ohio State, Koufos averaged 14.4 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game, and 1.8 blocked shots per game.

Pro career

Koufos with the Utah Jazz

On April 21, 2008, Koufos declared himself eligible for the 2008 NBA draft, but initially chose not to hire an agent; this would have allowed him to return to Ohio State if he withdrew from the draft on or before the June 16 withdrawal deadline. However, at the same time, it was speculated that he would leave the Buckeyes anyway to sign a professional contract in Greece.[3] He turned down a 3-year €5 million euros net income contract offer from Olympiacos Piraeus,[4] a Greek Basket League basketball club.[5] On May 8, the Canton Repository reported that Koufos signed with Cleveland-based agent Mark Termini, thereby ending his college eligibility.[6]

Koufos was selected by the NBA team Utah Jazz with the 23rd overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft. In March 2009, the Jazz assigned him to the NBA D-League club the Utah Flash.[7] However, after the Flash's first playoff game, the Jazz recalled him from the D-League in time for the playoffs due to an injury to Jazz starting center Mehmet Okur.[8]

Koufos was reassigned to the Flash on March 8, 2010,[9] and recalled on March 22, 2010.[10] On July 14, 2010, Koufos was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a deal involving Al Jefferson.[11]

On February 22, 2011, Koufos was traded to the Denver Nuggets in a three-way blockbuster deal which also involved New York Knicks that brought Carmelo Anthony to New York.[12]

On January 25, 2012, Koufos signed a three-year $9 million extension with the Nuggets.[13]

On June 27, 2013, Koufos was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies for Darrell Arthur and rights to the 55th pick in the 2013 NBA draft, Joffrey Lauvergne.[14]

Greek national team

Koufos playing against Jonas Valančiūnas

Koufos was a member of the junior Greek national under-18 team at the 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship in Spain. He led his team to the final game and although Greece lost to Serbia, Koufos won the tournament's MVP award after leading the competition in points, rebounds and blocked shots.[15]

In 2009, he debuted with the senior Greek national basketball team and competed at the EuroBasket 2009, where he won a bronze medal. He also played at the EuroBasket 2011. Koufos is considered to be one of the top Greek basketball center talents.

Personal

Koufos is the son of Katerina and the late Alex Koufos. He has an older sister, Maria, and an older brother, Vasilios. Koufos holds dual citizenship of both the United States and Greece.

Awards and accomplishments

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  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

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2008–09 Utah 48 7 11.8 .508 .000 .706 2.9 .4 .3 .6 4.7
2009–10 Utah 36 0 4.8 .468 .000 .600 1.3 .2 .1 .1 1.5
2010–11 Minnesota 39 1 8.6 .435 .000 .500 2.5 .2 .2 .5 2.7
2010–11 Denver 11 1 8.9 .500 .000 .632 3.0 .0 .2 .5 4.9
2011–12 Denver 48 24 16.5 .599 .000 .600 5.4 .3 .5 .9 5.5
2012–13 Denver 81 81 22.4 .581 .000 .558 6.9 .4 .5 1.3 8.0
2013–14 Memphis 80 22 16.9 .495 .000 .645 5.2 .5 .4 .9 6.4
2014–15 Memphis 81 3 16.6 .508 .000 .647 5.3 .5 .4 .8 5.2
Career 424 139 15.3 .528 .000 .617 4.7 .4 .4 .8 5.4

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2010 Utah 9 0 3.4 .400 .000 .000 1.0 .0 .0 .1 .9
2011 Denver 1 0 2.0 1.000 .000 .000 .0 .0 .0 .0 2.0
2012 Denver 3 2 8.7 .333 .000 .000 3.7 .0 .0 .3 .7
2013 Denver 6 2 16.7 .368 1.000 .833 3.5 .5 .5 .7 3.3
2014 Memphis 7 0 6.4 .438 .000 1.000 2.1 .3 .3 .4 2.6
Career 26 4 7.8 .408 1.000 .900 2.2 .2 .2 .3 1.9

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kosta Koufos Recruiting Profile
  2. ↑ SportingNews: Koufos is Ohio State's Oden encore.
  3. ↑ Goodman, Jeff (2008-04-21). "Buckeyes' Koufos will declare, won't hire agent". FoxSports.com. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  4. ↑ Basketcentral.it Koufos rejected offer from Olympiakos last summer.
  5. ↑ Collegebasketball.rivals.com : Koufos is Ohio State's Oden encore.
  6. ↑ Koufos hires Cleveland-based agent.
  7. ↑ Jazz Assigns Koufos to D-League.
  8. ↑ Utah Jazz: With Okur's status uncertain, Jazz recall Koufos. April 18, 2009.
  9. ↑ Jazz Re-Assign Koufos To D-League.
  10. ↑ Utah Jazz: Okur will return, Kirilenko won't against Celtics.
  11. ↑ "Wolves Acquire First-Round Draft Picks and Kosta Koufos". NBA.com. 2010-07-13. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
  12. ↑ "Nuggets acquire five players, three picks in three-team trade". NBA.com. 2011-02-22. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  13. ↑ "Nuggets sign Kosta Koufos to contract extension". NBA.com. 2012-01-25. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
  14. ↑ Nuggets Acquire F Darrell Arthur From Memphis Grizzlies
  15. ↑ FIBA Europe: Koufos Named MVP.

External links