Panagiotis "Takis" Koroneos (alternate spellings: Taki, Koronaios,

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Παναγιώτης "Τάκης" Κορωναίος; born October 8, 1952) is a retired Greek professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player and a professional

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

. He is also a former member of the

Greece men's national basketball team The Greece men's national basketball team () represents Greece in international basketball. They are controlled by the Hellenic Basketball Federation, the governing body for basketball in Greece. Greece is currently ranked 13th in the FIBA Worl ...

. During his playing career, his nickname was, "The Galis Before Galis". During his playing career, Koroneos was credited with discovering

Rony Seikaly Ronald Fred Seikaly (born May 10, 1965) is a Lebanese-American former professional basketball player. He was one of the first internationally born players to make an impact on American basketball. Considered one of the top college players from ...

, while he was a youth in Greece. In 1981, Koroneos met Seikaly, who was 16 at the time, after he purchased a pair of large basketball sneakers in Koroneos' athletics store. On the recommendation of Koroneos to the management of

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...

, Seikaly was then selected to join Panathinaikos' men's senior team, in order to begin training and practicing with them.

College career

Koroneos joined the youth teams of Panathinaikos in 1965, and he began his career with the club's senior men's team, in 1968. However, he still retained his

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

status for the NCAA DI. In 1970, he then began to play

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

, where he played with the

Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State Bulldogs is the name given to the college athletics, athletic teams of Mississippi State University, in Mississippi State, Mississippi. The university is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA D ...

Club career

Koroneos had a long tenure with the Greek team

Panathinaikos Athens Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of ...

. With Panathinaikos, he won 11 Greek League championships and 3

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

titles. While a member of Panathinaikos, he was also the Greek Cup Finals Top Scorer in 1983. In 2008, he was voted as one of the 100 greatest athletes in the first 100 years in the history of all the sports divisions of the Panathinaikos Athletic Club. He was voted the 60th most important athlete overall, and the 12th most important basketball player, in the club's first 100 years. During his career, he also played with

PAOK Thessaloniki PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

and

Panionios Athens Panionios G.S.S. (Greek: Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis''), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'', is a Greek multi-sport club founded in 1890. Originally ...

. In the top-tier level

Greek Championship (1963–1992), he scored a total of 7,465 points, which was the 5th most total points scored in the competition.

National team career

Koroneos played with the

in 150

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

, in which he recorded a personal total of 1,832 points.Basket.gr Ονοματεπώνυμο: ΚΟΡΩΝΑΙΟΣ ΠΑΝΑΓΙΩΤΗΣ .
/ref> His first game with the Greece men's national team was played on July 25, 1972, against the

Bulgaria men's national basketball team The Bulgaria men's national basketball team () represents Bulgaria in international basketball. The governing body is the Bulgarian Basketball Federation. Bulgaria's first appearance at an international tournament came at the EuroBasket in 193 ...

, during the Balkan Championship. His last game played with Greece was on October 29, 1981, against the

Poland men's national basketball team The Poland men's national basketball team () represents Poland in international basketball competitions. They are controlled by the Polish Basketball Federation (PZKosz). Poland has competed at the EuroBasket on 28 occasions, with their best ...

, in a friendly game. Koroneos played at the 1972 Pre-Olympic Tournament, the

1975 EuroBasket The 1975 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1975, was the nineteenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Venues First round Group A – Split Group B – Karlovac Group C � ...

, the 1979 EuroBasket, and the 1981 EuroBasket. They won gold medals at the

1979 Mediterranean Games The 1979 Mediterranean Games, officially known as the VIII Mediterranean Games, and commonly known as Split 1979, were the 8th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Split, Croatia, Split, SFR Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia, from 15 to 29 September ...

, and the 1979 Balkan Championship.

Coaching career

After his playing career ended, Koroneos worked as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the clubs

Maroussi Athens Maroussi B.C. () alternately translated as Marousi, Amaroussio, or Amaroussion, is a professional basketball club that is based in Maroussi, a northern suburb of Athens, Greece. The club's full name is Gymnastikos Syllogos Maroussi Basketball Clu ...

, Dafni Athens, Near East Kaisariani, Keravnos Strovolou Women, Panionios Athens Women and Panathinaikos Athens women (during the 2008–09 season).

Awards and accomplishments

Pro career

*11× Greek League Champion: (1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984) *3×

Winner: (1979, 1982, 1983) * Greek Cup Finals Top Scorer: (1983) * 5th all-time leading scorer of the

Greek Basketball Championship The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the Hellenic Basketball Associati ...

, with 7,465 total points scored in the Greek A National League (1963–64 season to present).

Greece national team

: * Balkan Championship: **: (1979) **: (1972) **: (1974, 1976, 1977, 1980)

References

Bibliography

*Panathinaikos - 90 Years On An Historic Run 1908-1998, P. Fiamegos, Athens 1998

External links

FIBA.com ProfileHellenic Basketball Federation Profile

Τα “κανόνια” του ελληνικού Πρωταθλήματος: Τάκης Κορωναίος

TAKIS KORONEOS 1968-1986, 1989-90
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koroneos, Takis 1952 births Living people Competitors at the 1979 Mediterranean Games Greek basketball coaches Greek Basket League players Greek men's basketball players Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Greece Mediterranean Games medalists in basketball Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball players Panathinaikos B.C. players Panionios B.C. players P.A.O.K. BC players Panathinaikos women's basketball coaches Point guards Shooting guards Sportspeople from Rethymno 20th-century Greek sportsmen