God’s speed Kostas Mourouzis
A great personality of Greek basketball, one of the pillars of the sport in the country, the huge Kostas Mourouzis is not with us anymore.
The coach that has led Olympiacos to its first big European distinction passed away at the age of 80 leaving a huge and hard to fill void.
Olympiacos BC expressed its sincerest condolences to the family of the great teacher. His figure will be always instilled in all of our hearts.
God’s speed…
The “fox” of the benches
The “fox” of the benches, the great Kostas Mourouzis, was the person to lead the Olympiacos basketball team to its first big European distinction. The great coach took over the “reds” half way in the 1976-77 season and during his first year in Piraeus led Olympiacos to the winning of the Greek Cup.
Next year, the coach with the best winning record ever until Yannis Ioannidis surpassed him, led Olympiacos to win the double! The team of Giantzoglou, Kastrinakis, Melini, Diakoulas and Barlas was sweeping everything in its course.
With Kostas Mourouzis in the bench, Olympiacos got to know European recognition. The bench fox led the ‘reds’ to the best six teams: “This was probably the most important moment of my career. When we qualified at the game against the Polish, I did not have the time to go to the locker rooms as usual because the fans lift me in their arms and wouldn’t let me know. This game left a mark in my soul”, he would recall years later.
During the same season the ‘reds’ made the six best teams of Europe, they lost the championship to Aris due to a coin hitting Giorgos Proestos. Olympiacos was disqualified and Yannis Ioannidis won his first championship title.
Besides Olympiacos, Kostas Mourouzis had built a great career and had won numerous titles being the Panathinaikos coach (six championships), while before coming to Piraeus he had also coached AEK (1 Greek cup title) and the Greek National Team.
As an athlete, he had played for Triton from 1948 to 1955 and at the age of 17 he played for the Greek National team. From 1955 and for five seasons he moved to Italy and to Gira Bologna becoming the top scorer of the Italian League in 1956. He returned to Triton in 1959 and served as a player-coach, while two years later he withdrew due to respiratory problems.