By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
It’s the feel good story of the day, but also a rightful recognition. Lagon Aro’s Andy Panko is the Liga Endesa regular season MVP. A 34 years old player proves that sometimes age doesn’t matter. He is the top scorer of the league (18,9 ppg), but also contributes for his team 5,3 rpg and 1,4 asp. It’s a dream season for him and its team as he said in his interview to Eurohoops.
Panko is not a new name in European basketball. After three season in NCAA division 3 as a player of Lebannon Valley University he tried to play in the NBA. He spent 2000-01 season between the Lakers, the Hawks and the IBL’s New Mexico Slam, and he was signed in the summer of 2001 by the Italian team Napoli. He tried again his luck in the States playing in CBA’s Dakota Wizards (2002-03), but in the summer of 2003 he returned to Europe for Girona. He played one season in the Greek league as a member of PAOK Salonika (2006-07) and nine in Spain from the summer of 2003 until now as a player of Girona, Caja San Gernando, Bilbao and Lagun Aro GBC.