STILLWATER – After weeks of governmental red tape, Oklahoma State’s Greek forward, Lefteris Mantzoukas, is officially in Stillwater.
The original hang up with getting Mantzoukas to Stillwater was the pause on student-visas by president Donald Trump.
Mantzoukas was discovered several years ago by associate head coach, James Miller. The coaching staff started working on trying to land him a few months ago, sending Keiton Page over to Greece to watch him in person.
When coach Lutz met with the media a few weeks ago, he said Page was “absolutely sold” on Mantzoukas.
Even though he’ll turn 22 this summer, Mantzoukas is being classified as a true freshman. He’s also listed at 6-9 and will play at the wing for the Pokes.
He played this past season with Maroussi, averaging 7.4 point and 5.2 rebounds per game with 1.1 assists. He shot 41% from three-point range.
“We wanted size at the forward position, and we really wanted shooting,” said Lutz. “Obviously, that was one of our downfalls, especially at the power forward, is we didn’t shoot great numbers, other than Chi Chi [Avery] was hot. So, we wanted to be able to address that through recruiting and be able to open the floor up a little but more because now you’ve got opportunities for driving lanes with the rest of those guys.”
