HERKLION, Crete– This is a tale of two big men– 17-year old 7-1, 235-pound center Giorgious Papagiannis of Greece and 7-1, 19-year old Dragan Bender of Croatia, who are arguably the two best big men in their respective age groups in the world.
Papagiannis may be more familiar to American fans, having played at the Jordan Brand International Game in 2013 when he was just 15 years old and then spending his junior year in high school at the Westtown School, a boarding school in suburban West Chester, Pa. returning to Greece in 2014 to sign to attend the American School in Athens for is senior year.
Papagiannis never lit up the American prep school circuit the way he was expected, but he were full of promise but it was, jut a matter of time before he blossomed. He made his senior club debut with Peristeri on Jan. 5, 2012, at the age of 14, in a Greek Basketball League game against power house Panathinkaikkos. He became the youngest player to ever play in the modern era of the GBL since it was organized.
Papagiannis, who will turn 18 this summer, is currently playing for the Panathinaikos amateur sports club. In his contract there’s also an opt out clause for the summers of 2015 and 2016. Since he is underage, he can keep his amateur status and try playing in the NCAA in the 2015-16 season. For the 2014-15 season he will have an amateur athlete license which will not belong to Panathinaikos BC, but to Panathinaikos amateur sport club, the entity from which every pro team emerged, according to Greek legislation.
The clause in the contract presumably would also allow him to return to Panathinaikos this year, then go to college or directly into the NBA draft next year if he chooses. His parents, who are well to do, still want to see him attend an American college. He is being heavily recruited by schools like Maryland, St. John’s, Penn State, Rutgers, Temple, Oregon, Connecticut. and Kentucky , according to Zags Blog. He will make a decision whether to play in the States or return to Greece shortly. Whoever signs him will be getting a true low post big men who is a rebounding machine and shot blocker. America does not have any player like this in the 17-and-unders..
If Papagiannis chooses Maryland and plays with 6-10 freshman recruit Diamond Stone, the Terps could be a pre-season No. 1.
Papagiannis played for the Greek U16 national team at the 2012 FIBA Europe Under 16 championship and led and the tournament I in blocks per game during a bronze medal finish. He also played with Greece at the 2013 International Under 16 tournament in Skaraya, Turkey where he helped Greece win a gold medal..
Last summer, he at the U17 FIBA World Championships in Dubai, Papagiannis averaged 8.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks. He scored 16 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and dished out 3 assists against a USA team that included elite bib bodies such as 6-10 Henry Ellenson of Marquette, Stone and 6-8 1/2 Caleb Swanigan of Purdue..
Paagiannis may not be a great athlete. But he has a soft shooting touch, great hands, can finish inside and handle a double team. Hehas turned out to be the best true low post player currently playing in the FIBA U19 World Championships held at the Heraklion Sports Arena. He is averaging 14.5 points for his undefeated 2-0 team that plays Serbia tonight in Group D at the University Arena He went for 16 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocked shots in the opener against Korea. Then he had 7 points, 13 rebounds, .4 blocks and several alters during a 70-65 victory over much improved Dominican Republic. .
The team is getting huge support from the Greeks who live here. They have played the feature game every night I in pool play and are a serious contender to medal.
Bender is another story all together. He ripped up the European U18 championships last year and is considered a potential Top 5 pick in the 2016 NBA draft. But he will not play in this tournament after leaving the team over a shoe contract dispute..
The versatile Bender, a 17-year old who plays power forward for Maccabi of Tel Aviv U18 team and has a 7-1 wing span, was considered to the best prospect here before this blowout. He averaged 14.4 points, 10.4 rebounds and 49 assists. Had he played and Croatia been healthy, it could have been represented by a team that averaged at least 6-8 at every position.
Vladimirr Vanjak, Croatia’s head of delegation at the tournament in Heraklion (Crete), Greece, confirmed to FIBA.com that Bender will be leaving Greece on Sunday. He told ace report David Hein: “The fact is that Bender denied [refused] to play in the Jordan Brand shoes but our Federation has a contract with Jordan and everybody has to play in Jordan Brand. He denied to do that but he didn’t say anything before coming here. That’s the problem. I talked with my Secretary General and other people who made the decision because we have a very serious contract with Jordan. If he cannot play in Jordan Brand, he cannot play. That’s it.”
Bender, who was expected to be one of the biggest stars at the tournament, has a contract with adidas and the Croatian national team is signed to a lucrative long-term 11 year deal with Jordan Brand.
Bender, who has an exclusive deal in place with adidas, was told in no uncertain terms by the federation he could not play unless he wore Jordan Brand. With rosters finalized, Croatia will play out the 2015 U19 Worlds with 11 players.
“They said to me, if Dragan doesn’t use Jordan Brand shoes, he can’t play,” Bender’s agent wrote to Draft Express. “We are very sad. He wanted to defend the colors of his country, but it looks like commercial reasons are above sport reasons. I am so sad for all his teammates his coach. They did a great job during the past three weeks (preparing for the tournament).”
