GREENSBORO, N.C. – Former UNCG men's basketball standout Nicholas Paulos (Salt Lake City, Utah/New Hampton School) has signed his first professional contract, coming to terms to AEK Athens in Greece. AEK Athens finished fifth in the Greek A1 standings last year and earned a wild card spot in the FIBA EuroCup in the coming year.
“I am very excited to start my professional career playing in Greece,” Paulos said. “It is a tremendous opportunity for me to play at this level and has always been a dream of mine. Being that my family comes from Greece, there is added value in going back to play there as well.”
Paulos played in 125 games for the Spartans in his career, including 68 career starts. He finished third all-time in UNCG history with 262 made 3-pointers, connecting on 39.3 percent in his four-year career. He became the 21st player in UNCG history to reach 1,000-career points, finishing with 1,030. He holds the UNCG single-game record with 10 3-pointers made against Chattanooga as a sophomore while also setting a record for going 9-of-9 from distance against Davidson as a junior.
This past season, Paulos turned in his best year of his career, averaging 10.6 points per game and 3.8 rebounds per game. He connected on 91 3-pointers last year, hitting at a 43.3 percent clip. He scored in double figures 17 times last year and posted multiple 3-pointers in 24 of 31 games. He also led the Southern Conference and ranked 12th in all of NCAA Division I with 1,178 minutes played.
Paulos' professional contract marks the third straight year UNCG has seen one of its players sign a contract in Europe. Former Spartans Trevis Simpson signed in Greece in 2013 while Kyle Cain inked in Israel in 2014.
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