PF/C Kosta Koufos (official thread)

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Former Ohio State center Kosta Koufos, with Jazz executives Randy Rigby, left, and Kevin O'Connor, says he is eager to raise his game to the NBA level. (Chris Detrick/The Salt Lake Tribune )

NBA dream prevails
Utah Jazz: Top draft pick Koufos spurned big offers from Greece for NBA
7-footer Koufos spurns big offers from Greece
By Ross Siler
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 06/28/2008


Even before he took his first class at Ohio State, Kosta Koufos already completed his major in international relations. All it took, in fact, was one offer the 7-footer received out of high school to play basketball in Greece.

There was a $5 million contract waiting for Koufos to sign and a beachfront villa waiting for him to call home. He could play for the Olympiacos club team in Athens, which would throw in any car of his choosing for good measure.

It wasn't the NBA, though, which was why Koufos could say he was living a dream Friday when he was introduced as the Jazz's newest member, selected with the No. 23 pick in the first round of Thursday's draft.

"With basketball, I follow what my heart says," Koufos said. "My heart told me to go to Ohio State because I'm going to learn and develop more as a player."

He spent Friday meeting with coach Jerry Sloan at the Jazz's practice facility - "He told me he's going to be hard on me, which I love," Koufos said - and posing for pictures with his new No. 41 jersey, last belonging to Thurl Bailey.

Koufos' mother, Kathy, said she had learned of two Greek churches in Salt Lake City while her son said he was confident in his abilities despite coming to the NBA after only one season at Ohio State.

"As a 19-year-old, yes, I'm young," Koufos said. "But at the same time, I feel like I can contribute to the program. Everybody's got something to work on and I'm going to do that and I'm going to work hard at it and raise my game to the next level."

At the very start of his NBA career, Koufos already has had to make a difficult decision. Instead of playing for Greece in an Olympic qualifying tournament next month in Athens, Koufos will play for the Jazz's summer-league team at the Rocky Mountain Revue.

If it costs him a chance at playing in the Olympics, Koufos didn't seem particularly bothered.

"For me, the priority's NBA," Koufos said. "Always will be. Whatever the staff needs me to do to excel on the NBA level, I'm willing to do."

Utah Jazz: Top draft pick Koufos spurned big offers from Greece for NBA - Salt Lake Tribune

Koufos fell and Jazz pounced
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter

At his new home in Salt Lake City, Kosta Koufos on Friday began to reap the joys that come with falling in the NBA draft.

It's never a bad thing when your new bosses believe they're just lucky to have you.

"In all honesty we kind of held our breath a little bit," Utah Jazz General Manager Kevin O'Connor said during a conference call / news conference that introduced Koufos to the state of Utah. "We were thrilled, obviously. We thought that two or three teams above us maybe would pick him."

Koufos fell and Jazz pounced- cleveland.com

Olympics notes: Revue or Olympics ? or both ? for Koufos?
By Tim Buckley
Deseret News
Published: Saturday, June 28, 2008

Greece's opening game in the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament is July 14, and the tourney runs through July 20.

Training camp for the Jazz's Rocky Mountain Revue opens July 14, and the NBA summer league itself runs July 18-25.

Awkward?

It sure seems to be for American-born Kosta Koufos, the Jazz's first-round selection out of Ohio State in Thursday's NBA Draft ? and a dual Greek-U.S. citizen who also belongs to Greece's national team.

Greece is hosting the qualifying tourney in Athens and is among 12 countries hoping to win one of three available berths for the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Jazz brass on Friday told Koufos they fully expect him to take part in the Revue, which they consider essential to the development of young players.

"That's what we expect from our draft pick," general manager Kevin O'Connor said. "We've had a conversation with him about it."

Deseret News | Olympics notes: Revue or Olympics — or both — for Koufos?

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Kosta comes to Salt Lake
Newest Jazzman (and Mom) makes first Utah trip
By Jody Genessy
Deseret News
Published: Saturday, June 28, 2008

During his first-ever visit to Utah, which came a day after being drafted in the first round by the Jazz, Kosta Koufos was impressed by his future home's "beautiful" scenery, the cleanliness and the friendliness.
(And, yes, he was referring to Salt Lake City, and not Orem, where he potentially could end up with the D-League's Utah Flash.)

Greece native Kathy Koufos, the 19-year-old's mom, also "loved it" ? from what she learned about the "family-oriented community," to her son's new basketball organization, even down to how Salt Lake City has two Greek churches.

One can only imagine how excited these dual citizenship Greek Americans from Canton, Ohio, will be when they find out the area also has Mad Greek and Greek Souvlaki restaurants.

Opah!

"I'm just very blessed and fortunate to be here," said the 7-foot center, who spurned offers to play pro ball in Greece and was picked 23rd overall after his freshman season at Ohio State, while meeting Friday with media at the Zions Bank Basketball Center.

Deseret News | Kosta comes to Salt Lake

Utah feels fortunate to land Koufos
Saturday, June 28, 2008
BY Todd Porter
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

As pick after pick came off Kevin O'Connor's draft board in Salt Lake City, the Utah Jazz kept their fingers crossed. The big man Utah's general manager and Head Coach Jerry Sloan wanted still was there.

Kosta Koufos fell to the Jazz, and Friday afternoon their honeymoon together began. Koufos was introduced to Utah media and held up a No. 41 jersey as the newest member of the Jazz. Late Thursday night, Koufos did not seem irritated watching his draft stock, that was in or on the edge of a lottery pick, tumble before his eyes.

In Utah, he will play in a state where the Jazz are the only horse in the stable.

"The Utah Jazz are the main event here," Koufos said. "It's a great fan base. Basketball is important here. ... I feel I can contribute to this program and hopefully bring a championship."

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Koufos' foot problems in the past, Jazz say
Utah's draftee broke foot as high school junior

By Tim Buckley
Deseret News
Published: Saturday, June 28, 2008

Last time a plummeting big man dropped to the Jazz, he had foot issues.
Major foot issues.

Curtis Borchardt ? selected 18th overall out of Stanford University in the 2002 NBA draft but expected to go higher ? was plagued by a stress fracture in his right foot while in college.

The 7-foot center missed his entire 2002-03 rookie season with the Jazz due to a stress fracture in the same foot, which was held together by surgical screws.

He wound up logging just 83 games over the next two seasons, and ? his NBA career cut short, in part because of the foot ? eventually embarked on a playing career in Spain.

Flash forward to Thursday.

The Jazz drafted 7-foot Ohio State freshman center Kosta Koufos, who was expected to go higher.

As it turns out, Koufos sustained a broken right foot that limited him to 11 games during his junior season at GlenOaks High School in Canton, Ohio.

That fact was considered but did not at all dissuade the Jazz from selecting Koufos with their No. 23 overall pick in the draft's first round.

"All the physicals show nothing," Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor said Friday.

"We put it in the hopper ? but he played two years after that, and a lot of people have done that," O'Connor added. "It's not something that's happened recently, and he's played a lot of games since. It's a clean bill of health."
Koufos went on to average 25.9 points, 15.4 rebounds and 5.2 blocks during a full senior season at GlenOaks.

Deseret News | Koufos' foot problems in the past, Jazz say

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Draft-pick Koufos welcomed by Jazz
Canton native makes first Utah trip

Published on Sunday, Jun 29, 2008
From Beacon Journal wire services

It's hard to believe Kosta Koufos was once a point guard.

Somewhere around his early teens, Koufos outgrew the position and kept going from there. Now 7 feet tall, Koufos is an NBA prospect after going to the Utah Jazz with the No. 23 pick in the NBA Draft. The Jazz will make room in the lineup if Koufos shows he's really ready for the NBA at the age of 19, or the team can give the young center time to develop.

''You know what? This is a great situation for me,'' Koufos said Friday at a news conference to introduce Utah's first-round pick.

Barely a year ago, Koufos was runner-up in the Associated Press Ohio Mr. Basketball voting for 2007. Now he's about to try to make an impression with Utah coach Jerry Sloan, whose tenure with the Jazz began before Koufos was born.

Koufos was making his first visit to Utah, quite a different place from his hometown of Canton and not a destination where he expected to land. But he smiled throughout his introduction at the Jazz practice facility, knowing he had successfully made the leap from one season of college basketball to the NBA.

Koufos said he is the only member of his immediate family taller than 6 feet.

''This is my lottery,'' Koufos said with a grin.

Koufos averaged 14.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and nearly two blocks per game last season at Ohio State, where he made the league's all-freshman team. He also has a good shot, especially for someone who is 7 feet tall. Koufos made 22-of-63 3-pointers for the Buckeyes and said his range extends to the longer NBA shot, too. He said his shooting ability comes from his days as a guard, which ended somewhere around eighth grade, when he was around 6-foot-7.

''I wasn't expecting to be this tall. I could always shoot the ball,'' he said. ''I just went wild with my height.''

Koufos' family is Greek, but he was born in the United States and has dual citizenship. He played for the Greek national 18-and-under team last summer and is an icon in his family's homeland, but said his goal has always been to play in the NBA, not overseas.

Koufos will play in the Rocky Mountain Revue, the summer league hosted by the Jazz, then have the rest of the summer to continue working out and get in shape for his first training camp under Sloan.

''He told me he's going to be hard on me ? which I love,'' Koufos said.

Whether he stays in Salt Lake City or spends more time in Orem, home of the Development League's Utah Flash, will depend on Koufos, said Jazz General Manager Kevin O'Connor.

He said Koufos, like most young centers, probably rarely had to go against players who were as big as he was growing up. He would face at least one every game in the NBA.

''It's really a change,'' O'Connor said.

Ohio.com - Draft-pick Koufos welcomed by Jazz

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Rivals$

More from Kosta concerning the opportunity in Utah.

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Rivals $

Brian Snow discusses the expectations that were placed on KK at tOSU.