QUEENS, N.Y. (Nov. 9, 2023) – The St. John’s men’s basketball program has announced the signing of Lefteris Liotopoulos to a National Letter of Intent on Thursday during the NCAA’s early signing period. The 6-foot-5 guard from Greece currently ranks 32nd among shooting guards in the Class of 2024 according to On3.com.

“Lefteris is the best young player in Greece who really understands everything that goes into our offenses in terms of movement, cutting and shooting,” said Coach Rick Pitino.

Liotopoulos emerged as a standout for his country over the summer, playing for Greece’s U18 national team at the 2023 FIBA European Championship in Serbia. In seven international matches where he played 28.8 minutes per game, Liotopoulos averaged 14.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per contest, helping his team advance to the quarterfinal round. His best outing came in the Round of 16, logging 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting to help lift Team Greece over Team Finland, 88-70.

On the international level, Liotopoulos also represented Greece at the 2022 FIBA U16 European Championship where he averaged 4.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per contest.

Last season playing at the club level for DEKA Academy, Liotopoulos posted 23.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He also shot 36 percent from 3-point range for his team en route to a Greek U18 League Group A Regular Season Title in 2023.

Liotopoulos was recognized by Eurobasket.com as the All-Greek U18 Rising Star Tournament’s Guard of the Year following his standout showing in the postseason with DEKA Academy.