G.S. Iraklis B.C.


Gymnastikos Syllogos Iraklis Basketball Club is a Greek professional basketball team that is located in Thessaloniki. It serves as the senior men's basketball section of the multi-sport club of G.S. Iraklis. Iraklis currently plays in the top-tier level Greek Basket League.
The team's colors are blue and white. Iraklis won the Greek National Championship in 1928 and 1935, and has also reached the Greek Cup final three times. Some of the greatest players in Greek, European and worldwide basketball have played for Iraklis over the years including: Lefteris Kakiousis, Jure Zdovc, James Donaldson, Walter Berry, Xavier McDaniel, Roy Tarpley, Nikos Chatzivrettas, Vasily Karasev, Lazaros Papadopoulos, Dimitris Diamantidis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis.

History

The Iraklis parent athletic club was founded in 1908, and initially featured football. The club was named after Heracles, the mythical Greek demigod. The basketball team of Iraklis was established in 1921.
Iraklis won the inaugural Greek League championship in 1928. To win the championship, Iraklis had to eliminate AEK Athens and Near East, before beating VAO in the championship game. The team won its second Greek championship in 1935. Also in the team's history, three times Iraklis finished in second place in the Greek Championship, three times Iraklis has been a Greek Cup Finalist, and two times Iraklis made it to the semifinals of the European 2nd-tier level league Cup Winners' Cup.
Iraklis reached the semifinals of the 1994–95 FIBA European Cup, where they competed against Taugrés. Iraklis won the first game 79–78, but lost the next two games, to be eliminated 2–1 in a best of three series. In 1996, an Iraklis team led by former NBA players Xavier McDaniel and Roy Tarpley, reached the Greek Cup Final Four. By beating Apollon Patras in the semifinal, Iraklis reached the final, where it then lost 85–74 to Panathinaikos. Iraklis has also twice competed in the top European continental competitions. The club played in the European top-tier level European Champions' Cup in the 1995–96 season, and also competed in the FIBA SuproLeague during the 2000–01 season.

Recent history (2005-present)

In 2006, Iraklis was relegated to the Greek A2 Basket League, after finishing 13th in the first-tier Greek League. In 2010, after four seasons in the second-tier level Greek League, the team was promoted back up to the top-tier Greek Basket League. After one season in the Greek top-tier level, Iraklis was again relegated down to the A2, with two matches left in the season. At the end of the season, Iraklis chose to play in the third-tier level of Greek basketball, the Greek B Basket League, in order to clear its debts. The club was promoted to the Greek A2 Basket League in 2013, after finishing 2nd in its group, and after Peristeri failed to receive financial clearance to participate in the league.
In the 2018–19 season, Iraklis won the promotion playoffs of the Greek A2 League, and was promoted up to the top level Greek Basket League, for the first time in 8 years. During the 2019–20 season, Iraklis is taking part in the Greek Basket League organized by the Hellenic Basketball Federation. The season started in October 2019 and was scheduled to end in June 2020. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the championship was terminated earlier. Iraklis took the 7th place with 29 points, having 9 wins and 11 losses in a total of 20 games.

Honours and titles

European competitions

In earlier times, Iraklis played its home games at the Thessaloniki Forum. Iraklis currently plays its home games in the Ivanofeio Sports Arena, an arena with a seating capacity of 2,500. The arena opened in 1987, and it was expanded to its current capacity in 1991. Ivanofeio is situated in the Thessaloniki city center, and it is owned by the GS Iraklis multi-sport club.

Supporters

The most prominent supporters' club of the team is Aftonomi Thira 10, a fan club with a total of 15 branches in Northern Greece. The fan club is known for holding an antiracist stance, as it participates in the Ultras Antiracist Festival. Other activities of the fan club include the publication of a magazine, and the conducting of an annual festival. Other minor supporters' clubs are SFISE, Blue Boys, A.P.A.T.S.I., and Iraklis Fan Club of Athens. In a 2013 opinion poll, Iraklis was ranked as the 6th most popular basketball club in Greece, gathering 2.8% of the participating supporters' votes.

Players

Current roster

Depth chart

Notable players


Head CoachFromToTitles & Honors
Makis Piritidis19791980
Efthimis Kioumourtzoglou198019811 Greek Cup Finalist 1981
Michalis Giannouzakos19871987
Soulis Markopoulos19871990
- Steve Giatzoglou1990
1996		1992
1996		1 Greek Cup Finalist 1996
Theodoros Rodopoulos19921992
Ciko Awerbuck19921992
Johnny Neumann19931993
-- Dragan Šakota1993
1998		1994
2000		1 Greek Cup Finalist 1994
- Slobodan Subotić1994
1995		1995
1995
Tom Newell19961996
Zoran Slavnić19971997
Vangelis Alexandris1997
2015
Makis Dendrinos20002000
Lefteris Kakiousis2004
2009		2005
2010
Jure Zdovc20062006
Darko RussoNov 2010Jan 2011
Georgios KalafatakisJan 2011Feb 2011
Chris ChougkazFeb 2011Sep 2011
Makis KalantaridisSep 2011Oct 2011
Thodoris AlbanisOct 2011Mar 2012
Antonis KyritsisMar 2012May 2012
Dimitris VatosMay 2012Jul 2012
Thomas KostopoulosJul 2012Jul 2013
Dimitris TsolakisJul 2013Sep 2013
Stefanos PerkosSep 2013Apr 2014
Giorgos KyroudisApr 2014Nov 2014
Giannis DamalisNov 2014Mar 2015
Stefanos PerkosMar 2015Oct 2015
Vangelis AlexandrisOct 2015Jan 2018
Lefteris ChatzikyriakidisJan 2018Oct 2018
Kostas MexasOct 2018Jul 2019promoted to Greek Basket League
Ioannis KastritisJul 2019Jan 2020
Ilias KantzourisJan 2020Jul 2020
Vangelis ZiagkosJul 2020present

In European-wide competitions