When Nick Calathes decided to leave the American college system and sign a multi-year contract with Panathinaikos in the summer of 2009, the move raised some eyebrows. But two and a half years later, Calathes has blossomed into one of the most important players for the reigning Turkish Airlines Euroleague champs and continues to improve from season to season – even from month to month – at both ends of the floor. In fact, bonafide stardom may not be far off.

The big leap forward for the combo-guard came last season. Calathes was heralded for his tremendous defense on the Euroleague’s career scoring king, Juan Carlos Navarro, as Panathinaikos ousted the then-Euroleague champs in the Playoffs. Then at the Final Four, he stepped up with a career-high 17 points to lead the Greens to victory in the semifinals en route to claiming the ultimate prize two days later in Barcelona.

Greatness on the basketball court seems to come naturally for Calathes, who grew up playing with older brother Pat Calathes, who is now a reserve forward on the Panathinaikos roster. Nick was selected as the Florida Mr. Basketball after his junior and senior high school seasons and proceeded to tear up the record books in his two seasons at the University of Florida, where he was named the Southeastern Conference Newcomer of the Year as a freshman and selected to the All-SEC First Team as a sophomore. The scoring, passing, leadership and defensive abilities that he displayed for the Gators combined with Calathes’s Greek heritage caused Panathinaikos to extend an offer, which he accepted.

Though life as a Euroleague rookie was not easy for him, there was certainly no better place for a 20-year-old guard to learn. In addition to coaching legend Zeljko Obradovic, Calathes trained every day with four of Europe’s best: Reigning Euroleague MVP Dimitris Diamantidis, four-time champion Sarunas Jasikevicius, 2009 Final Four MVP Vassilis Spanoulis and 2006 Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy winner Drew Nicholas. Calathes was able to grow as a player and a professional and gained more responsibility from Obradovic until last season he stepped up when needed most to help deliver the Greens to the Final Four and then to the title.

Now in his third season with Panathinaikos, the dynamic has changed and Calathes’s role is bigger than ever. He is tied for the team lead in steals (1.6 spg.), is second in assists (3.4 apg.) and third in minutes played (26:10 per game) and index rating (12 per game). At Panathinaikos, such playing time and responsibility is only given to players that have truly earned it. And though Calathes, already a Euroleague champ, has certainly done so, what makes him all the more special is that he is far from done.