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For Texas Longhorns sophomore forward Ioannis Papapetrou, the desire to stay at Texas was subsumed by the chance to return home to Greece to play for top Euroleague squad Olympiakos, as news broke Tuesday that the versatile forward finally signed:
Double hit by @olympiacosbc! Ioannis Papapetrou (20, 2.06, SF) from University of Texas is the new member of the Euroleague champs!
— Eurohoops.net (@Eurohoopsnet) August 20, 2013
Texas has not yet been informed about Papapetrou's departure.
A 6'8, 223-pounder, Papapetrou is a native of Athens and averaged 8.3 points per game and 4.4 rebounds last season in a strong freshman performance that he followed up by leading the Greek U-20 squad in scoring at the European championships by averaging 16 points per game and 6.5 rebounds a contest, a showing that no doubt increased his stock in the eyes of the European teams pursuing his services.
The goal for Papapetrou has always been the NBA, but he will now have a chance to hone his talents while making a considerable sum of money in his home country. As much as it hurts the Texas basketball program to suffer yet another defection, this move makes sense on a number of levels for Papapetrou.
As for the impact to the Longhorns this season, Papapetrou was the leading returning scorer after Myck Kabongo left for the NBA and Sheldon McClellan and Julien Lewis transferred. So, yeah, the 2013-14 team is probably not going to be very good.