Georgios Trontzos Explained

Georgios Trontzos
Height Ft:7
Height In:1.5
Weight Lb:240
Nationality:Greek
Birth Date:16 February 1942
Birth Place:Veria, Greece
College:Gonzaga (1961–1963)
Career Start:1960
Career End:1980
Career Position:Center
Career Number:6
Years1:1960–1961
Team1:HAN Thessaloniki
Years2:1963–1980
Team2:AEK Athens
Cyears1:1979–1980
Cteam1:AEK Athens
Highlights:As a player:

Georgios Trontzos (alternate spelling: Giorgos) (Greek: Γιώργος Τρόντζος;) is a retired Greek professional basketball player and basketball coach. At a height of 2.17 m (7'1 "), he played at the center position. In honor of his great contributions to the club as a player, his number 6 jersey was retired by AEK Athens.[1]

College career

Trontzos played college basketball in the United States at Gonzaga University, with the Gonzaga Bulldogs.[2] He was the second 7-footer in the school's history after Jean Claude Lefebvre, a 7'3" French native, who arrived at Gonzaga in the fall of 1957.[3]

Club career

Trontzos started playing basketball with HAN Thessaloniki (YMCA). He then moved to the Greek club AEK Athens. With AEK, he won 5 Greek League championships (1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970).

He also helped lead the team to the final four of the FIBA European Champions Cup of the 1965–66 season, which was the first time that the EuroLeague ever used a final four system, thus helping to lead a Greek team to a final four in the EuroLeague for the first time ever. He also helped to lead AEK to the championship of the European-wide 2nd-tier level FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup of the 1967–68 season, which was the first European championship won by any Greek team. He scored 24 points in the tournament's final game.

He also played in the Greek Cup Final with AEK twice, in the years 1976 and 1978. He was a member of the FIBA European Selection team, in the years 1965 and 1967.

National team career

Trontzos was also a member of the senior men's Greek national basketball team. In 136 caps played with Greece's senior men's team, he scored 1,543 points, for an average of 11.3 points per game. He played at the FIBA EuroBasket 1965, the FIBA EuroBasket 1967, the FIBA EuroBasket 1969, and the FIBA EuroBasket 1973. He also played at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments of 1964 and 1968.[4]

He also played at the Mediterranean Games in 1967 and 1971.

Coaching career

Trontzos also coached AEK Athens, which he led to the final of the Greek Cup in 1980.

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.sport24.gr/Basket/OmadesBasket/A1Aek/aposuretai-h-fanela-toy-trontzoy.4297339.html Αποσύρεται η φανέλα του Τρόντζου .
  2. http://m.spokesman.com/stories/2012/nov/08/a-tall-tale/ Spokesman.com A tall tale.
  3. http://news.gonzaga.edu/2013/eiffel-rifle-zags-7-footer-jean The ‘Eiffel Rifle,’ Zags’ First 7-Footer Jean Claude Lefebvre Debuted in 1957 to International Fanfare
  4. https://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/p/rpp//q/georgios%20trontzos/pid//_//players.html FIBA.com Georgios TRONTZOS (GRE).