ATHENS (Greece) - Sotiris Manolopoulos has been confirmed as the new head coach of the Greece national team, having previously worked as an assistant coach.

The 51-year-old Greek tactician was part of Rick Pitino's coaching staff at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2020 in Vitoria, Canada - also working as an assistant in 2011-12 - and now takes the helm of the side listed 10th in FIBA World Ranking, presented by NIKE.

Manolopoulos' first task will be the upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers with Greece visiting Great Britain in their opening game on November 25, before hosting Belarus three days later to complete the first window.

The Boston University graduate is also currently the head coach of Greek side Peristeri having started his coaching career as an assistant at the club back in 2004. The team are competing in FIBA Europe Cup for the first time and started their campaign with an overtime loss against Tsmoki-Minsk.

Greece are also building towards next year's FIBA EuroBasket 2022 as they will face hosts Italy in Milan alongside Estonia, Croatia, Ukraine and another meeting with Great Britain.

FIBA