Georgios Tsalmpouris (alternate spelling: Giorgos Tsalbouris[1]) (Greek: Γιώργος Τσαλμπούρης; born 22 June 1996) is a Greek professional basketball player for Panionios of the Greek Basket League. Tsalmpouris is 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) tall,[2][3][4] weighs 240 pounds (110 kg), and plays at the power forward and center positions.

Georgios Tsalmpouris
Γιώργος Τσαλμπούρης
Tsalmpouris in action with Iowa State
No. 7 – Panionios
PositionPower forward / Center
LeagueGreek Basket League
Personal information
Born (1996-06-22) 22 June 1996 (age 28)
Veria, Greece
Listed height7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)
Listed weight240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
CollegeIowa State (2014–2015)
NBA draft2016: undrafted
Playing career2015–present
Career history
2015–2019AEK
2017–2018Kolossos Rodou
2019–2020Kolossos Rodou
2020–2021PAOK
2021–2022Apollon Patras
2022–2023Real Betis
2023–2024Bilbao
2024–presentPanionios
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  Greece
FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship B
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Greece Under-20

Early career

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Tsalmpouris played club basketball with Archelaos Pierikos in the Greek B Basket League, the 3rd level of Greek the basketball system, at the semi-professional level, in the 2013–14 season.

College career

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In the 2014–15 season, Tsalmpouris played college basketball in the Division I, for the Iowa State Cyclones team.[5] He was the seventh 7-footer in the school's history.[6] He played in 8 games, and averaged 1.4 points, 0.8 rebounds, 0.3 assists, and 0.1 steals per game, in 4.4 minutes per game.[7] In August 2015, after playing one season with Iowa State, Tsalmpouris left the school, and returned to Greece to play professionally.[8]

Professional career

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In August 2015, Tsalmpouris signed a five-year contract with the Greek Basket League club AEK Athens.[9][10] Tsalmpouris then became automatically draft eligible 2 years early, due to having played a year of professional basketball, right after a year of college basketball in the NCAA Division I, as well as previously playing under a start-up national basketball league, before participating in college basketball. So he was thus automatically entered into the 2016 NBA draft, but was not drafted after two rounds.

In 2017, he was loaned by AEK to the Greek club Kolossos Rodou. He returned to AEK for the 2018–19 season, and with them he won the 2019 FIBA Intercontinental Cup, before going back to Kolossos, on a free transfer in the summer of 2019. On September 12, 2020, Tsalmpouris signed with the Greek club PAOK Thessaloniki.[11] On December 3, 2020, he recorded a then career high of 22 points against Aris Thessaloniki.

On August 22, 2021, Tsalmpouris moved to the Greek club Apollon Patras, where he enjoyed a very successful 2021–22 season campaign. In a total of 24 Greek Basaket League games played, he averaged 14.9 points, and 5.6 rebounds per game, while playing an average of around 32 minutes per contest.

On September 23, 2022, he signed with Real Betis of the Spanish Liga ACB.[12] On February 17, 2023, he parted ways with the club. In 16 games played with Real Betis, he averaged 8.8 points and 2.9 rebounds per contest.

On February 26, 2023, he signed with Bilbao of the Spanish Liga ACB.[13]

On July 25, 2024, Tsalmpouris returned to Greece for Panionios.

National team career

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Greek junior national team

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Tsalmpouris was a member of the junior national teams of Greece. With Greece's junior national teams, he played at the following tournaments: the 2012 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, the 2014 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, the 2015 FIBA under-19 World Cup, the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, and the 2016 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship Division B, where he won a bronze medal.[14]

Greek senior national team

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Tsalmpouris became a member of the senior men's Greek national basketball team in 2017.[15]

Career statistics

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Domestic Leagues

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Regular season

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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: Only games in the primary domestic competitions are included. Therefore, games in cup or European competitions are left out.

Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2015–16 A.E.K. GBL 0 - - - - - - - - -
2016–17 A.E.K. GBL 14 7.0 .487 .364 .750 1.1 .2 .1 .3 3.2
2017–18 A.E.K. GBL 3 6.2 .300 .000 .500 1.0 0 .5 0 2.3
2017–18 Kolossos GBL 16 10.5 .386 .313 .375 1.9 .4 .1 .3 3.6
2018–19 A.E.K. GBL 21 10.0 .571 .350 .723 1.8 .2 .3 .2 3.7

Playoffs

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Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2015–16 A.E.K. GBL 1 2.4 .000 .000 - 1.0 0 0 1.0 0
2016–17 A.E.K. GBL 0 - - - - - - - - -
2017–18 Kolossos GBL 2 15.4 .462 .333 .667 1.5 0.0 0.5 0.5 8.0

FIBA Champions League

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[16][17]

Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016–17 A.E.K. 7 9.4 .391 .111 .857 1.1 .6 .3 .3 3.6
2018–19 A.E.K. 12 7.5 .400 .273 .714 .7 .4 .2 .5 2.0

References

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  1. ^ GIORGOS TSALBOURIS Born: 22.06.1996 Citizenship: GR.
  2. ^ "Giorgos TSALMPOURIS Height: 218 cm (7 ft 2 in)". Archived from the original on 2017-12-29. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
  3. ^ Giorgos Tsalmpouris Ht: 7-2.
  4. ^ GEORGIOS TSALMPOURIS PHYSICALS H: 7' 2".
  5. ^ Iowa State center Tsalmpouris is the big man on campus.
  6. ^ Iowa State center Tsalmpouris is the big man on campus.
  7. ^ #34 Georgios Tsalmpouris.
  8. ^ 7-1 center Georgios Tsalmpouris tells Iowa State he's turning pro.
  9. ^ Georgios Tsalmpouris signs a five-year deal with AEK Athens.
  10. ^ Georgios Tsalmpouris signs at AEK Athens.
  11. ^ PAOK Thessaloniki tabs Georgios Tsalmpouris.
  12. ^ "Coosur Real Betis signs Giorgos Tsalmpouris". Sportando. September 23, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  13. ^ "Georgios Tsalmpouris signs with Bilbao". Sportando. February 26, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  14. ^ Georgios TSALMPOURIS (GRE) participated in 5 FIBA / FIBA Zones events.
  15. ^ Η "πρώτη" της Εθνικής σε φωτογραφίες (in Greek).
  16. ^ "AEK at the Basketball Champions League 2016-2017".
  17. ^ "AEK at the Basketball Champions League 2018-19 2019 - FIBA.basketball".
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