Men's Basketball | 6/13/2025 3:07:00 PM

Elias Panagiotopoulous is turning pro.

The York University Lions men's basketball alum, who spent the last four seasons in red and white, signed Wednesday with NE Megaridas, of the Greek Elite League, a step below Greece's top pro league, the Greek Basketball League. NE Megaridas is based out of Megara, a suburb of Athens located approximately 40 kilometres west of the Greek capital.

The former Lion joins a team in NE Margaridas which finished in the Elite League in 2024-25 with a 30-26 record. They then swept their first-round playoff before losing in a single-game showdown in the second round and then dropping their consolation round game.

Panagiotopoulos, a 6'3 guard from Orangeville, Ont., embarks on his pro career after a solid, but under-the-radar U SPORTS career. Never an OUA all-star, the former Orangeville District S.S. MVP did not start a game over his first two years at York, before moving into a leadership role over the final two seasons and becoming a constant in head coach Jermain Holness' starting five. Over his final two seasons, he appeared in forty games and started 34 of them, shooting a combined 35.9% from the field, 37.2% from three-point range and 85.3% from the free-throw line.

Despite never being an OUA all-star, the kinesiology & health science graduate finds himself amongst the best offensive players in program history. He sits seventh all-time in three-pointers made by a Lion with 101, while also finding himself eighth on the program's all-time list in free throw percentage at 79.7% (minimum 50 free throws). Additionally, in a display of his ability to create offensively and take care of the ball, his 1.3 assist to turnover ratio is tied for second all time (98:77).

His best season came in 2023-24, when he set career highs in field goal percentage (44.4), three-point percentage (40.4) and free-throw percentage (88.4), while he averaged a career-best 10.2 points in his final season as a Lion in 2024-25. He set a career-high in points 26 on Dec. 2, 2023 vs. Carleton, where he made eight threes to lead the team to its first win over the Ravens since 2010.

Overall, the 24-year-old appeared in 76 games as a Lion, averaging 7.2 points per game and shooting 37.1% from the field, 35.9% from downtown and 79.7% from the charity stripe.