Greek big man Nikos Chitikoudis bolsters Robert Morris' chances as men's basketball opens Horizon League title defense

When he chose to transfer to Robert Morris, Nikos Chitikoudis had a high standard to uphold.

Sure, there were men’s basketball coach Andy Toole’s expectations for the players who would attempt to defend the Colonials’ Horizon League title. More to the point, the native of East Thassaloniki, Greece, was following in the footsteps of two compatriots who are the most decorated players in the history of RMU basketball.

Artemis Spanou (twice) and Anna-Niki Stamolamprou won three Northeast Conference Player of the Year awards between them. Stamolamprou (twice) and Spanou combined for three NEC Tournament MVP awards and three NCAA Tournament berths.

Oh, and they are the top two scorers in the history of the RMU women’s program. Spanou, in fact, has more career points than any Robert Morris basketball player — male or female — with 2,124.

“I knew about them as players, but I didn’t know they played at RMU,” said Chitikoudis, who spent his first two seasons at North Carolina A&T. “It’s crazy because coach Toole told me on our very first phone call that (Robert Morris) had two great Greek players. … It was really nice knowing that other Greek players had done it before me.”

Chitikoudis hopes to win another conference title for his country and his new school as he leads Robert Morris into Horizon League play. The Colonials open Thursday night at Green Bay.

The 6-foot-9 Chitikoudis has been impressive, leading the Colonials (6-3) with 13.1 points per game and ranking second on the team with 7.0 rebounds per game. His highlight was an 18-point, 10-rebound performance in a victory at Drake, snapping the Bulldogs’ 49-game home nonconference winning streak.

In scouting Chitikoudis, Toole said he was impressed with the big man’s versatility, not just in his ability to score with a variety of post moves but with his passing acumen.

“He’s one of our most unselfish players, first and foremost,” the 16th-year coach said. “It’s nice to have somebody you feel can apply pressure to the rim, make defenses concerned about how to defend the paint.”

He also is developing more of a mid-range game, which, Toole said opens up possibilities for the offense.

“I just think his ability to move around the floor and take other bigs from other teams and make them have to guard so many different things, I think it provides so much value to our offense,” Toole added.

Basketball is popular in Greece, and Chitikoudis said many top players choose to sign with pro teams after high school. But he and the man who would become his agent started discussing the prospect of coming to the USA for basketball when Chitikoudis was a junior.

By the time he was a senior, he had made up his mind that the opportunity to play basketball in the U.S. and get a free education was too good to pass up.

He landed at North Carolina A&T, a Division I historically Black school in Greensboro, N.C., where he started 41 of a possible 56 games in two years. But the Aggies went a combined 14-50.

Robert Morris’ Horizon League banner was one of the tipping points in Chitikoudis’ decision to transfer in.

“Obviously what they did last year influenced my decision,” Chitikoudis said. “They expect a lot from me, and I’m ready to help the team as much as I can and get some ‘dubs.’

“I would love for us to go back-to-back, because that’s really a dream of mine since I came here. I want to experience March Madness.”

First comes the Horizon League regular season. Robert Morris was picked fourth in the league’s preseason poll, and the team is still navigating some ups and downs that come with the early season.

But Toole sees plenty of reason for optimism, not the least of which is his own “Greek Freak.”

“We’ve got to clean up every little piece of our execution offensively and defensively,” he said. “We’ve got to continue to build some depth where we know we’re going to have some consistent performances from guys off the bench.

“If we can continue to accomplish those things or get close to those things, I think we’ll be a team that’s in the mix.”