Ioannis Spanoudakis

Greek basketball player

Ioannis Spanoudakis
Ιωάννης Σπανουδάκης

Personal information

Born

(1930-01-01)1 January 1930
Chania, Crete, Greece

Died

10 June 2010(2010-06-10) (aged 79)
Athens, Greece

Nationality

Greek

Career information

Playing career

1947–1967

Coaching career

1947–1966

Career history

As player:

1947–1964

Olympiacos

0000

Virtus Bologna

0000

Motomorini Bologna

As coach:

1947–1966

Olympiacos

Career highlights and awards

As a player:

2× Greek League champion (1949, 1960)

As a head coach:

2× Greek League champion (1949, 1960)

Medals

Men's Basketball

Representing Greece
Mediterranean Games
	1955 Spain

Ioannis Spanoudakis (alternate spellings: Giannis, Yiannis, Yannis) (Greek: Ιωάννης "Γιάννης" Σπανουδάκης) (1930 – 10 June 2010), was a Greek basketball player and coach. He represented the Greece men's national basketball team. Along with his brother, Alekos,^[1] he is considered to be one of the early leading pioneers of the sport of modern basketball in the country of Greece. He was the long-time player / head coach of the Greek Basket League club Olympiacos, acting simultaneously in both roles, while with the club.

Club career

Spanoudakis played basketball at the club level with the Greek Basket League team Olympiacos. While with Olympiacos in the 1950s, Spanoudakis trained with Bob Cousy^[2] and Greek-American Lou Tsioropoulos, of the NBA's Boston Celtics, in Greece. Spanoudakis, and his brother, Alekos, learned the American style of basketball from the two Celtics players, and they were the first two athletes to bring American basketball techniques to Greece.

He also played in the Italian LBA League, with Virtus Bologna and Motomorini Bologna.