Every year the folks over at EuroHoops rank the best players ahead of the upcoming EuroLeague season. This year they decided to cut the list from 100 to 50, tightening things up while still celebrating a large swath of talented stars in one of the best basketball leagues on the planet.
A trio of former WCC stars, including Gonzaga alumni Kevin Pangos, were included on the list. The list is calculated using last year’s PIR (Performance Index Rating) as well as consultations with writers and editors across Europe.
Pangos came in at No. 12 overall, narrowly missing out on a top ten finish. From the article:
His NBA tenure was short, and his return to Europe with CSKA never happened, so for sure Kevin Pangos is hungry for basketball and he was added to Milan with the goal of at least a Final Four return. If he is in Zenit form, that’s more than doable.
EuroHoops.net
Pangos averaged 10.7 points and 6.4 assists in 20 games with Zenit in 20-21, a stretch in which his team went a blistering 17-3. His NBA career was short lived after that, and now he is back in the EuroLeague with Milano.
An injury kept him out of preseason action, but Pangos returned and scored nine points with four assists in 15 minutes in the first game of the season.
Elsewhere on the list, former Portland Pilots big man Luke Sikma came in at No. 43 overall. Now in his sixth season with Alba Berlin in Germany, Sikma has continually averaged in double figures, while leading Berlin to a 119-27 record in that time.
BYU alumni Brandon Davies comes in at No. 34 on the list. After three straight years with F.C. Barcelona, Davies is now teammates with Pangos in Milano. He scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds in his first game of the season, and should be in line for a big year on a team loaded with WCC talent.
Andy hosts the Locked on Zags and Locked on College Basketball podcasts, and serves Locked On in a marketing/digital content creator role as well. He lives just outside Portland with his wife Jenna and dog, Tillie.