By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
“I’ve been here for six years and I’ll definitely be here for nine”. These are the words Vangelis Mantzaris used to make his three-year renewal with Olympiacos more or less official.
After meeting with Olympiacos presidents Panagiotis and Giorgos Aggelopoulos, the Greek point guard agreed to remain in Piraeus for three more years, despite the more lucrative offers he had in his hands by other EuroLeague teams.
“This has been one of the most difficult weeks of my life,” Mantzaris also said, commenting on the loss of the Greek League title to Panathinaikos. “But everything ended fine. Both sides wanted to continue together. Vassilis (Spanoulis) and Giorgos (Printezis) also wanted me to stay and they showed it to me.”
Mantzaris arrived to Olympiacos on summer 2011. Since then he has won the EuroLeague in 2012 and 2013 and the Greek League titles of 2012, 2015 and 2016. Last season he averaged 5.8 points, 2.4 assists and 2.8 rebounds in EuroLeague while the Reds reached the EuroLeague Final.