Kevin Pangos

Kevin Pangos

Pangos taking a jump shot for Gonzaga.
No. 3 – Žalgiris Kaunas
Position	Point guard / Shooting guard
League	LKL EuroLeague
Personal information
Born	(1993-01-26) January 26, 1993 Holland Landing, Ontario
Nationality	Canadian / Slovenian
Listed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High school	Denison (Newmarket, Ontario)
College	Gonzaga (2011–2015)
NBA draft	2015 / Undrafted
Playing career	2015–present
Career history
2015–2016	Herbalife Gran Canaria
2016–present	Žalgiris Kaunas
Career highlights and awards
All-EuroCup Second Team (2016) Third-team All-American – AP, NABC, TSN (2015) WCC Player of the Year (2015) 4x First-team All-WCC (2012–2015) WCC Newcomer of the Year (2012)
Medals Men's basketball Representing  Canada FIBA Americas U16 Championship 2009 Mendoza National team FIBA World U17 Championship 2010 Hamburg National team FIBA Americas U18 Championship 2012 São Sebastião do Paraíso National team

Kevin Joseph Pangos (born January 26, 1993) is a Canadian-Slovenian^[1] professional basketball player who plays for Žalgiris of the LKL. He spent his college basketball career playing for the Gonzaga Bulldogs of the West Coast Conference. He was named the 2015 WCC Player of the Year,^[2] as well as a third-team All-American by Sporting News.^[3] Pangos has also represented Canada at the international stage.

Early life

Like many young Canadians, Pangos played youth hockey. He had family connections to the game—an uncle played in the NHL, and a cousin was drafted by the Washington Capitals—but he did not like the sport as much as basketball.^[4] In any event, he had much deeper family links to that sport. His father Bill played basketball for the University of Toronto^[5] and finished his 26th season as the head women's basketball coach at York University in Toronto in 2013,^[6] his mother Patty played Canadian Interuniversity Sport basketball at McMaster University,^[6] and his sister Kayla played under their father at York.^[4]

Growing up, Pangos' biggest inspiration was Steve Nash, a Canadian who developed into one of the NBA's top point guards and a two-time MVP. At training camps throughout his youth, Pangos paid special attention to stories about Nash; he recalled in a 2013 interview, "Someone would say, 'Steve Nash would make 500 shots a day.' I figured I had to make 500 shots a day."^[6]

Although he played for various national and provincial youth squads, he frequently trained alone or with his father, as he found relatively little high-level competition in Ontario.^[4]

High school career

Pangos played for Dr. John M. Denison Secondary School in Newmarket, Ontario. In his senior season, he led Denison to the OFSAA Triple-A title game where he scored a game-high 26 points in a 69-64 loss to Anderson CVI.^[7]

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Kevin Pangos PG	Newmarket, ON	Dr. John M. Denison (ON)	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Nov 11, 2010
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 92
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2011 Gonzaga". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2012-06-08.  "2011 Basketball Recruiting Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved 2012-06-08.  "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved 2012-06-08.  "2011 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2012-06-08.

College career

Pangos received offers from several NCAA Division I schools including Michigan, Temple, UNLV, Portland, and Cincinnati.^[8] Notably, he and Trey Burke were both offered scholarships to Michigan, but only on a first-come, first-served basis; Burke accepted first.^[6] Pangos opted for Gonzaga after receiving favorable reviews from Kelly Olynyk and his family; the Pangos and Olynyk families are longtime friends in the closely knit Canadian basketball community.^[6]

In his second NCAA game against Washington State he scored 33 points and tied a school record with nine three pointers made in an 89-81 victory. This game kicked off a stellar 2011-12 freshman season at Gonzaga, as Pangos led the team in many statistical categories including points, assists, steals, minutes played, 3-pointers made, and free throw percentage. He helped Gonzaga to a 13-3 record in the West Coast Conference, good enough for second place, and a 26-7 overall record.

In the WCC semi-finals Pangos led Gonzaga by BYU in a 77-58 victory, scoring a game-high 30 points on 10-17 shooting.^[9] Pangos did not perform well in the 2012 West Coast Conference finals in a 78-74 overtime loss to Saint Mary's. Pangos shot just 3-18 from the field and 1-10 from three-point range.^[10]

Gonzaga entered the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament as a #7 seed. In his first NCAA tournament appearance, Pangos scored 13 points on 5-7 shooting and added 5 assists in a lop-sided 77-54 victory over West Virginia; however, Gonzaga would lose to #2-seeded Ohio State in the third round of the tournament 73-66. Pangos would score just 10 points on 3-13 shooting.^[11]

On January 29, 2015 against Portland, Pangos broke Blake Stepp's three points record of 288 with a wide open 3 with approximately 15 minutes left in the first half.^[12] As of March 11, 2015, Pangos currently has a school-record of 313 3 pointers, which is good enough for fifth place all-time in West Coast Conference men's basketball.^[13]

Professional career

On July 24, 2015, Pangos signed a two-year deal with the Spanish club Herbalife Gran Canaria of the Liga ACB and European 2nd-tier level EuroCup.^[14] In 2016, he left Herbalife Gran Canaria, and joined the Lithuanian club Žalgiris Kaunas, of the LKL and European top-tier level EuroLeague, with whom Pangos signed a "1+1" deal.^[15][16]

International career

Pangos played for the 2009 Canadian Cadet Men's National team that won bronze at the 2009 FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship, where he averaged 18.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 3.2 steals per game.^[17]

Pangos also represented Canada at the 2010 FIBA Under-17 World Championship, where he averaged 15.8 points, 5 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game, en route to a bronze-medal game victory over Lithuania.^[17]

In 2011, Pangos travelled with Canada's Under-19 men's basketball team to Latvia, for the 2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship. He finished second on the team in scoring, averaging 13.5 points per game, and led the team in assists, with 3.1 per game^[18] Pangos finished fourth among the tournament in steals per game leaders, averaging 2.1 per game.^[19]

Professional career statistics

Liga Endesa

EuroCup

Awards and achievements

• 2015 CBB 3 point Contest Champion
• 2012 WCC Newcomer of the Year^[20]
• 2012 First Team All-WCC^[20]
• 2012 WCC All-Freshman Team.^[20]
• 2013 First Team All-WCC^[21]
• 2014 First Team All-WCC^[22]
• 2015 First Team All-WCC^[2]
• 2015 WCC Player of the Year^[2]
• 2015 Sporting News Third Team All-American^[3]

References

External links

• Kevin Pangos at acb.com (Spanish)
• Kevin Pangos at eurobasket.com
• Kevin Pangos at euroleague.net
• Kevin Pangos at fiba.com
• Gonzaga Bulldogs bio
• Kevin Pangos on Twitter
  
• Kevin Pangos on Instagram