The international flare continues.
Pat Kelsey has added a third international prospect to his 2025-26 roster with the commitment of Vangelis Zougris, who has played professionally in Greece since 2021.
Zougris, who is 20-years-old, played this past season for Peristeri Athens, averaging 5.2 points and 3.8 rebounds. He has also represented the Greek national team in multiple FIBA competitions.
At 6’8, 250-pounds, Zougris has a reputation for being extremely physical and doing the bulk of his damage around the rim.
The scout on Zougris is that he’s a throwback frontcourt player who does almost all of his dirty work around the rim, despite standing 6’8.
Here’s more from a 2024 FIBA EuroCup recap:
Zougris is a tough player to evaluate through the lens of modern basketball, as he has the prototypical combination size, length, strength and mobility of a current-day power forward, but his offensive game is closer to those of fours from 15 to 25 years ago, who would be more impactful operating in the post than in the perimeter.
Standing at 2.02m (6ft 8in) with wide shoulders, a strong frame and long arms, Zougris is an effective interior finisher who can do tremendous damage as a roll-man, transition target and offensive rebounder. The Greek forward utilizes his size to set strong screens, and once he rolls to the basket, he’s a tough cover for opponents with his combination of mobility, strength, leaping ability and hangtime.
While Zougris can utilize his length to be a factor in putbacks and occasionally catch lobs, the 19 year old doesn’t possess an elite level of size compared with opposing interior players, and he’s decidedly a two-foot leaper, which forces him to load up into his leap before dunks and finishes around the basket.
Zougris, however, compensates for the physical shortcomings with an elite level of skill and polish, starting with his versatile finishing ability. Zougris is not just a dunk-and-layups type of finisher, and possesses a level of touch in tough shots that allows him to convert tough floaters, runners, hooks and off-balance layups - a little reminiscent of what Greek legend Georgios Printezis had in his locker room. This makes him a threat not only around the basket, but also from the high-post and the elbows.
His footwork is also impeccable. Zougris possesses tremendous fluidity and coordination with his back to the basket, being able to utilize fakes, spin moves and step throughs to find the open space and finish around the basket.
His combination of strength and agility makes him a tough cover for opponents around the basket, as he can bully smaller wing defenders in post-ups while also being quick to face up and comfortable putting the ball on the floor in traffic to attack bigger, slower centers.
Given the current makeup of the roster, I don’t hate the idea of bringing in an enforcer who can turn the tide of the game if Louisville is getting pushed around a little too much inside or giving up too many second chance opportunities.
Zougris doesn’t have to be a 20-minute per game guy, he just to make an impact when he’s called upon in specific circumstances.
