Stylianos "Steve" Giatzoglou (alternate spellings: Yatzoglou, Yantzoglou; Greek: Στυλιανός "Στηβ" Γιατζόγλου; born 11 December 1949), is a Greek American professional basketball coach, and the president of the Union of Greek Basketball Athletes. He's also a former basketball player, having competed professionally in the Greek Basket League. During his playing career, his nickname was "The Lion".Τα κανόνια του ελληνικού πρωταθλήματος: Στιβ Γιατζόγλου .
College career Under the name Steve Young, Giatzoglou played college basketball at the University of Connecticut, where he played with the school's men's team, the UConn Huskies.
Professional career After college, Giatzoglou began his professional club career in Lebanon. Giatzoglou's pro career was mainly noted for his successes with the Greek Basket League club Olympiacos Piraeus. He's considered today as one of the greatest players in the club's history. With Olympiacos, he won 2 Greek League championships and 4 Greek Cups. He was the Greek Cup Finals Top Scorer in 1977, 1978, 1979, and 1980. He also played with the Greek club PAOK Thessaloniki.
In the top-tier level amateur Greek Championship (1963–1992), he scored a total of 6,044 points, which was the which was the 10th most total points scored in the competition.Τα “κανόνια” του ελληνικού Πρωταθλήματος: Στιβ Γιατζόγλου .
National team career Giatzoglou made his debut with the senior Greek national team, on 6 May 1973. With Greece's senior national team, he had a total of 115 caps, in which he scored a total of 1,468 points,*Steve Giatzoglou, Hellenic Basketball Federation website for a scoring average of 12.8 points per game.
Giatzoglou played in three FIBA EuroBasket tournaments with Greece's national team. He played at the 1973 FIBA EuroBasket, the 1975 FIBA EuroBasket, and the 1979 FIBA EuroBasket. His last game with the Greek national team was on 18 February 1981, in a friendly game against the Bulgarian national team.
Coaching career As a basketball head coach, Giatzoglou worked in several clubs in Greece, including: Olympiacos Piraeus, Sporting Athens, Iraklis Thessaloniki, Aris Thessaloniki, AEK Athens, Pagrati Athens, Peristeri Athens, Gymnastikos S. Larissas, Aigaleo Athens, and Kavala. In 2014, Giatzoglou was hired as an assistant coach to work in South Korea, with the Goyang Orions of the Korean Basketball League."Steve Giatzoglou joins Goyang Orions coaching staff in Korea", Basketball Buddha, 8 October 2014 In 2015, Giatzoglou returned to Greece to coach Kavala."Steve Giatzoglou is Kavala's new coach", 17 November 2015
Awards and accomplishments Pro career Olympiacos Piraeus 2× Greek League Champion: (1976, 1978) 4× Greek Cup Winner: (1976, 1977, 1978, 1980) 2× Greek Cup Finalist: (1979, 1983) 4× Greek Cup Finals Top Scorer: (1977–1980) Olympiacos Piraeus Club LegendSteve Giatzoglou.
Greek national team 1972 Balkan Championship: 1974 Balkan Championship: 1976 Balkan Championship: 1979 Mediterranean Games: 1979 Balkan Championship: 1980 Balkan Championship:
Personal life In October 2016, Giatzoglou endorsed the Neo-Nazi political party Golden Dawn, and attended the celebration of their newspaper's 1,000th issue."Steve Giatzoglou at Golden Dawn event", Kourdisto Portokali, 4 October 2016 (in Greek) In 2020, he joined the Greek nationalist party Greeks for the Fatherland, as a party executive.
See also Players with the most points scored in the Amateur Greek Basketball Championship (1963–1992)
References
Additional sources Steve Giatzoglou - Biography & Career Statistics Legends of the Legend : Steve Giatzoglou at the Olympiacos website Steve Giatzoglou, FIBA website Steve Giatzoglou, FIBA Europe website Τα “κανόνια” του ελληνικού Πρωταθλήματος: Στιβ Γιατζόγλου