Angelo Tsagarakis

Angelo Constantin Tsagarakis (; born June 3, 1984) is a retired French-Greek professional basketball player who played both point guard and shooting guard. Tsagarakis played college basketball at Oregon State University, with the Oregon Beavers, and at Cal Poly Pomona, with the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos. He is since August 2026 the director of high performance and player development for Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan BC, one of Israel's top first division professional teams.

Recognized as one of the premier 3x3 players on the international scene, While representing France in international competitions between 2017 and 2018, Tsagarakis brought back two long-distance shooting gold medals at the 2017 World Cup in Nantes and the 2018 Europe Cup in Bucharest. He was also the top FIBA ranked French 3x3 player for the year 2015

French youth levels Tsagarakis was named in 2004, by the French magazine Maxi-Basket, as one of the top three French players of his generation (players born in 1984). He competed at the French Nike Camp several times, and was the MVP in 1999, and an all-star in 1998, 1999, and 2000. He won the under-18 division II French national championship in 2000, with his club team Poissy, while averaging 13 points per game during the tournament's Final Four: He had an 18-point effort in the semifinal against Mulhouse (all in the second-half), to help Poissy overcome a 21-point half-time deficit.

Tsagarakis had one of the most memorable moments in the youth tournament's final four history, when he hit 4 three-point field goals in a span of a minute and thirty seconds, to cut his team's deficit to one point, with 3 minutes left in the game. He carried Poissy to the French National Under-18 Sweet 16 in 2001 and 2002, while averaging above 25 points per game in both seasons. He also helped Poissy to a 12–9 record at the 5th-tier level French National 3 in 2002, while averaging 18 points and 9 assists per game at the age of 17 (he led the team in both scoring and assists). Finally, he took Poissy to the French National Under-15 Elite 8 (Poissy finished 5th in the country) in 1999, while averaging just above 23 points per game. He was named the 2004 French Hoops College Freshman of the Year.

2004–05 season After a promising freshman season, Tsagarakis was forced to remain sidelined the next season, as he red-shirted, due to a shoulder surgery. He suffered a rotator cuff tear, when he dislocated his right shoulder prior to the start of practice in a preseason workout. He had surgery on September 16, 2004, to repair the problem. Tsagarakis had hoped to return to game action by the start of Pac-10 Conference play, but it was decided that a red-shirt year would be the best for him.

Professional career

JL Bourg-en-Bresse (LNB Pro B) 2008 Tsagarakis signed in early May 2008 his first professional contract with the French second-tier division LNB Pro B league regular season runner-up, JL Bourg-en-Bresse. He played a total of 7 games as a medical replacement of Raphaël Desroses, the team’s leading scorer on the season. Angelo helped Bourg-en-Bresse to the Pro B semi-finals as he averaged 10 points and 2 assists in 6 playoff games, while shooting 50% from the field, 44% from three-point land & 100% from the free-throw line (11/11) in only 19 minutes per game on average.

He finished the year averaging 13.6 points per game, while shooting 45% from the field and 40% from 3 point land, with 2.4 assists, and 1.7 turnovers per game (with an 11 efficiency) in 26 minutes spent on the court per game, which secured his spot on the All-Pro B Team that was selected by "catch-and-shoot.fr" at the end of the season.

Champagne Châlons Reims Basket (LNB Pro B) 2012–13 Following up the previous two seasons in the Ain county, Tsagarakis signed with Champagne Châlons Reims Basket, a proven candidate to win a league promotion to the French top-tier level Pro A. He helped the CCRB team make it all the way to the Pro B finals. (Live broadcast of the finals was on the French cable TV channel Sport+ of the Canal+ group). CCRB eventually lost the finals 2–0 against Olympique d'Antibes, but Tsagarakis put up averages of 13 points and 11.5 PIR per game in the series, while shooting at 48.5% from 3 point range.

He finished the regular season as the 9th best French nationality scorer in the league, with an average of 12.2 points per game, which earned him his second straight Pro B All-Star selection by the media. He was later selected at the end of the season to the All-Pro B First Team by the specialized site "Catch & Shoot". He also led the league in free-throw shooting percentage, at 91.5% on the season (65 of 71).

J.A Vichy-Clermont Métropole (LNB Pro B) 2015–16 Tsagarakis entered the following 2015–16 season with the LNB Pro B club JA Vichy-Clermont Métropole Basket, a new club with big ambitions, resulting from the merger between the clubs of Jeanne d'Arc Vichy and Stade Clermontois. Being the key element of head coach Fabien Romeyer's system, Tsagarakis achieved an individual season in line with his previous standards of play in the Pro B, as he averaged more than 11 points per game. The team failed to clinch a playoffs spot, yet finished with an honorable .500 record, with 17 wins and 17 losses.

He played in 33 games, with 22 starts, and averaged 11.3 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists, in 26 minutes played per game, while shooting 37.5% from 3 point range (87 of 232), and 88.7% from the free throw line (47 of 53). In 6 Pro B Leaders Cup games played (4 of which he was in the starting 5), his averages rose to 13.3 points, 1 rebound, and 2.5 assists, in 25 minutes per game, while he shot 41.5% from 3 distance and 92.6% from the free throw line (25 of 27). With Kelsey Barlow and Tsagarakis as top performers, Trikala, although the smallest budgeted team of the league, exceeded expectations, and flirted with making the league's playoffs throughout the second part of the season, surpassing for the first time in the club's history a total of 10 wins in a single season in the Greek's professional elite level. Tsagarakis made his mark by finishing as the fifth best Greek nationality scorer in the league, with 10 an average of points per game, and also finishing second in the Greek League in 3 point shots made and attempted on the season.

Kymis (Greek Basket League) 2017–2018 In August 2017, Tsagarakis followed his head coach from Trikala Aries, Giannis Kastritis, and signed a one-year contract with Lymis He helped the ambitious Kymis club to the best record in its young history in the Greek Basket League, as they finished the regular season tied for 6th place, alongside Lavrio, with a 14 win and 12 loss record. The team henceforth reached the Greek League’s playoffs for the first time, and matched up with Greece’s powerhouse Olympiacos in the first round. They lost game 1 on the road by 3 points, and ended up losing the series 2–0.

French 3x3 national team

He led France to an undefeated campaign in the 2016 FIBA Europe 3x3 Championships Qualifier, which was held in Poitiers, France (July 1–2, 2016), with victories against Estonia, Poland, Israel, Romania, and Italy. He led all scorers with 43 points, which was also the best mark among all players throughout the qualification phase (3 qualifiers total held in Amsterdam, Andorra, and Poitiers), as he finished ahead of the number one ranked 3x3 player in the world, Dušan Bulut, and Spanish ACB League player Álex Llorca.

His greatest accomplishment representing his home country came in the summer of 2017. Tsagarakis finished in the top 3 scorers of the 4th FIBA 3x3 World Cup, in Nantes (France - June, 17th to 21st), with 46 points in 7 games (1 point behind the world's number one ranked Bulut), and led team France to the bronze medal, which was the second world medal in the history of French 3x3 basketball in the senior category.

In the week preceding the World Cup in Nantes, Tsagarakis was named the MVP of the Big 12 International Tournament that was held in Voiron (France), that was won by the French team. In early July, he also competed with the French team at the 2017 FIBA 3x3 Europe Cup in Amsterdam, finishing 5th, after losing in the quarterfinals against the surprising champion, Latvia. He once again led the team in scoring, with 19 points in 3 games. Tsagarakis also participated in the long distance shootout contest and finished second behind the Russian national team player Alexander Zakharov.

From September 14–16, 2018, Tsagarakis competed once more in the FIBA 3x3 Europe Cup, while representing France. France finished 7th, after losing in the quarterfinals against Russia. The competition was held in Bucharest. Although France failed again to win a medal at the competition, Tsagarakis dominated the 3-point shoot-out competition, and earned himself another gold medal in the competition, after the one he had earlier obtained at the World Cup in Nantes, in 2017. It was the third individual international medal for Tsagarakis in as many events in the contest. Tsagarakis retired from international play in September 2018 and is still today the 4th all-time leading scorer in the history of the French 3x3 national team with 160 points in 26 caps.

He started competing on the professional FIBA 3x3 stage in 2015 and met immediate success as he finished the year the number 1 French player in the FIBA rankings.

Tsagarakis also won back to back 3x3 Open de France (French National Championship) in 2015 and 2016 and came back in 2020 to win a third title in three participations while clinching tournament MVP honors in the process.

Personal life Angelo Tsagarakis is the son of Antonis and Maryse Tsagarakis. He speaks four languages fluently: French (which is his native tongue), English, Spanish, and Greek. He graduated from Oregon State University in 2007, with a Bachelor of Science in International Business, along with a minor in Spanish. He also studied E-Commerce at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 2008.

He was an NCAA Student-Athlete academic achievement recipient in 2005, 2006, and 2007. His sister, Catherine Tsagarakis-Ostrowski, is a Lyon, France veterinary school graduate. Tsagarakis is a former high school teammate, and close friend of, former college basketball standout and Olympian with the Nigerian national basketball team, Josh Akognon. His last name is pronounced Tsah-gah-rah-kiss, the initial "T" is not silent.

Complete statistical table