Sleeper Shooter Heading to Oregon State
As we've seen in the NBA Draft in recent years, international players are all
the rage. Not all young men from overseas are professional, however, and
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Oregon State recently locked up one of the amateurs in Angelo Tsagarakis, a sweet-shooting 6-3, 188 pound guard out of Petaluma (CA) Casa Grande HS.
Tsagarakis - a native of Auffreville, France - came to the United States for
his senior year of high school. Thanks to the connections of a family friend
who lived in Petaluma, he enrolled in the student exchange program which
allowed him to attend Casa Grande. His impact on the basketball floor was
immediate and lasting. He averaged 23 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 5.6 assists,
leading Casa Grande to the Sonoma County League title, and earning league MVP
honors.
It didn't take long for at least one school to start paying attention to the
Frenchman with the smooth stroke.
"When Angelo got here, I knew about what kind of talent he had. So I started
calling around to schools to tell them about him," said Casa Grande head coach
Jeremy Russotti. "Oregon State, notably assistant coach Kevin Mouton, decided
to take a chance on it. He flew out here for our first tournament. Angelo had
36 points and 11 assists in one game, and after that, Mouton said 'I am so glad
I acted on my gut and came down here!'. He had never seen a shooter as good as
Angelo."
"Ever since then they've been involved since Day One," he said. "They showed
him a lot of love."
That's not to say that OSU was the only school involved. Lorenzo Romar at
Washington was very intrigued by Tsagarakis' talents, but the Huskies
scholarship situation didn't quite work out.
"He really liked Washington and Lorenzo Romar. And they really wanted him,"
said Russotti. "But once Nate Robinson decided to give up football, they lost
that available scholarship."
Utah and California also showed high interest, but in the end, it was the
closeness with Mouton and the OSU coaching staff that swayed Tsagarakis over.
An official visit to Corvallis in February sealed the deal.
"He's big on coaching relationships," said Russotti. "That's definitely what
it came down to with him."
Tsagarakis is certainly a top-notch shooter who has that classic "in-the-gym"
range on his jumpshot. But according to Russotti, his game evolved as the year
progressed.
"The good thing about his game is that it changed over the course of the
season," he said. "He finally realized how he had to play at the next level.
When he first came here, his mindset was all offense. He could score any way
that he wanted. The mental part of his game - he was so used to being 'the
man'. So it took awhile for him to adjust to the team concept."
"Now he really penetrates," he said. "Sure, he loves the three - it's like a
layup to him. But he's improved his ball-handling and he's not just a
three-point shooter anymore."
As is the case with most players from Europe, his level of skill offensively
was way ahead of what he could do on the other side of the ball.
"Obviously defense is his weakness," said Russotti. "We had to bench him for a
couple of games in the middle of the season because he wasn't buying into the
concept. But it woke him up. He got more aggressive and started to do what
he's supposed to do."
Tsagarakis should see immediate time at Oregon State, a team that sorely lacked
consistent outside shooting last season. In fact, playing time could come
sooner than later for him in Corvallis.
"They think he has a chance to start," said Russotti. "It's going to depend on
how quick he adjusts to conditioning and the structure of college practices."
An excellent student, Tsagarakis and his family highly value education -
something that makes him different than your typical European player, e.g. San
Antonio Spurs point guard and French native Tony Parker. In France, Tsagarakis
competed for the Poissy-Yvelines junior team and could easily have gone the
professional route the way his old friend from the youth leagues did. But his
career decision was different.
"His goal was to go to college," said Russotti. "He could have made $40,000 a
year playing for Division One team in France, but he turned that down because
he wanted to go to college."
Jay John and Oregon State couldn't be happier.
Jed Tai is a senior writer for Hoopville.com.