Oklahoma State Basketball Adds Greek Forward Lefteris Mantzoukas

Steve Lutz is bringing an experienced big man across the pond from Greece.

Lefteris Mantzoukas is set to play at Oklahoma State next season after playing for professional clubs in Greece since he was 14 years old. Mantzoukas will turn 22 this summer, and I’ve seen him listed at 6-foot-9 and 6-foot-10.

“Lefteris is a proven competitor with championship experience at the highest levels of European basketball,” said coach Steve Lutz in OSU’s release. “He has a deep understanding of the game, and his size and elite shooting ability will fit well within our offense. We’re excited to welcome him to Stillwater.”

He played at Greek power Panathinaikos but spent this past season on loan at Maroussi. In 24 games in the Greek Basketball League (the top division in Greece) with Maroussi, he averaged 7.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists a game while shooting 41% from 3 on 54 attempts.

He had a pair of double-doubles in that stretch. The first came against Panathinaikos, his parent club, where he had 15 points and 11 rebounds while going 3-for-7 from 3-point range. Then against Olympiacos a few weeks later, Mantzoukas scored 13 points and brought down 10 boards.

Mantzoukas was a EuroLeague champion in 2024 with Panathinaikos. He played in 14 EuroLeague games in Panathinaikos’ run, averaging 1.9 points and a rebound a game. He was 8-for-12 (67%) from 3 in EuroLeague games that season.

Mantzoukas played in 53 EuroLeague games from 2021 to 2024, where he averaged 2.4 points and 1.3 rebounds a game while shooting 45% (28-for-62) from 3.

Along with his EuroLeague title, Mantzoukas is a two-time Greek League champ, a Greek Cup winner and a two-time Greek Super Cup winner. He was named the Greek League’s Most Improved Player and Best Young Player in 2023.

Mantzoukas has been playing pro ball in Greece for some time, starting at just 14 years old with Promitheas before making the jump to Panathinaikos in the 2020-21 season.

Mantzoukas played for the Greek national team in a pair of qualifiers for the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 tournament. He played in one game for Greece during the 2023 qualifiers.

He’s also been a staple for the Greek national team within his age group. At the 2023 FIBA U20 European Championship, Mantzoukas averaged 16.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists across seven games. He also competed at that event in 2022 and 2019. In 21 total games across those three years at the U20 level, Mantzoukas averaged 14.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and a pair of assists a game.

Mantzoukas fills the 13th spot on OSU’s 2025-26 roster, meaning the Cowboys have two spots still to fill. The roster has some foreign flair to it with Mantzoukas joining Serbian forward Andrija Vukovic, Iranian forward Parsa Fallah and Nigerian center Ben Ahmed as internationals on the team.