Green Mountain basketball welcomes Greek standout

POULTNEY – The Green Mountain College men’s basketball team is excited to announce the addition of incoming freshman Nikolaos Maragkidis to its program for the upcoming 2015-16 season. Maragkidis made a financial deposit and will begin his Eagle career in September as a business major.

“Nik is a hard-working, young man that I think will be a great addition to our athletic and academic communities,” said Head Coach Anthony Leonelli. “He is a very gifted offensive player who has a two-year head start learning the American way of playing.”

The 6’4” native of Athens, Greece comes to Green Mountain via Sarasota, Florida where he studied at Elevation Preparatory Academy while playing basketball for Impact Academy during his senior year of high school. Maragkidis helped lead his team to a 12-8 record this season as a senior while scoring more than 14 points per game thanks in large part to his efficiency from the floor and his accuracy at the charity stripe.

Maragkidis was a force to be reckoned with at this past season’s Sarasota Xplosion Basketball Tournament where he helped lead Impact Academy to the championship while also taking home MVP honors as he scored at least 15 points in each of the team’s games while securing a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists in the finale.

The lanky guard also spent time at Brewster Academy in 2013-14, where he was a part of the NEPSAC Class AAA championship winning team. Maragkidis spent his first two years of high school playing overseas in Greece at the American Community Schools of Athens.

Maragkidis is highly motivated and ready to begin his collegiate career in earnest whilst setting a lofty goal – to play basketball professionally.

“I hope that my efforts will be rewarded and that I will be given the chance to demonstrate my enthusiasm and my commitment as a team player and as a student,” said Maragkidis.

Maragkidis will look to contribute as a freshman to an Eagles team on the rise. This past season Green Mountain doubled its win total from 2013-14 and under the guidance of second-year coach Anthony Leonelli will look to continue building on that success in the North Atlantic Conference.