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opprairie.com Sports
the orland park prairie | October 5, 2017 | 47
fastbreak
Alumni Spotlight
Stavropoulos reflects on first year of college basketball
Geoff Stellfox/22nd Century
Media
1st and 3
Stars of soccer
1. Colin Kroll (above)
The junior forward
was one of two offensive
stars for the
Eagles Sept. 26. He
scored one goal and
assisted on two of
Jimmy Margas’ three
goals in the contest
to get Sandburg off
to a good start in the
conference.
2. Jimmy Margas
When players have
hat tricks, they are
usually playing pretty
well. That was clearly
the case for Margas,
who scored a firsthalf
goal and tallied
two more in the
second half against
Lincoln-Way East.
3. Connor Baker
The junior goalkeeper
gave props to his
defense, but he gave
up only one goal and
began to be more vocal
during the Eagles’
victory, which could
pay big dividends.
Steve Millar
Freelance Reporter
Orland Park native Victoria Stavropoulos takes the court in her freshman season with
Georgia Southern University. Georgia Southern Athletics
Sandburg graduate Victoria
Stavropoulos called her
freshman basketball season
at Georgia Southern University
“an eye-opener.”
“You can be a good player
in high school,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter when you
walk through those doors
to college. You’re back to
square one. Everything’s
completely different.”
Stavropoulos was blown
away by her first taste of Division
I basketball.
“There’s a lot to learn
when you’re a freshman,” he
said. “The speed of the game
is so much faster than high
school, and there’s so much
more intensity.”
Stavropoulos played a total
of nine minutes over six
games for the Eagles, who
finished 13-17 in the 2016-
2017 season, including 9-9
in the Sun Belt Conference.
The 6-foot forward connected
on 1-of-3 shots and
blocked a shot.
Although her time on the
court was limited, Stavropoulos
found it valuable.
“Every time I step on the
court, that’s pushing me in
the right direction,” she said.
“You need to get experience
to gain confidence, even if
it’s only a minute here and a
minute there.
“Right now, it’s like I got
my first little taste of it, and
now I’m hungry for a lot
more.”
Stavropoulos, a civil engineering
major, thinks she
has found the right place for
herself at Georgia Southern.
“When I went down for
a visit, something clicked,”
she said. “I liked the team
and the coaches. Also, academics
are very important,
and them having an emerging
engineering program was
something I really liked.”
Georgia Southern is in
Statesboro, roughly an
hour’s drive from the Atlantic
Ocean.
“I like that it’s close to
Savannah, because I really
like it there,” Stavropoulos
said. “I wanted to experience
a different lifestyle
and a smaller place, and it’s
definitely a big change from
Chicago.”
Stavropoulos’ post-Sandburg
basketball experiences
extend beyond Georgia
Southern, as well.
This past summer, she
helped the Greece national
team finish second in the International
Basketball Federation
Under-18 Women’s
European Championship.
It was Stavropoulos’ second
stint with the Greek
team, as she also played
for the U16 National Team
while at Sandburg.
“It was a phenomenal experience
last summer, especially
since we did so well,”
she said. “Since it was my
second time with the national
team, I was a lot more
comfortable.
“We got to play in Romania
and Bosnia, and the more
I get to see of the world because
of basketball the better.
I definitely hope to have
more experiences with the
national team in the future.”
As she prepares for her
sophomore season at Georgia
Southern, Stavropoulos
is working on her mental
game.
“That’s a huge part of
it,” she said. “Fifty percent
of the game is mental. You
know there are going to
people better than you. In
high school, there may have
only been a couple players
better. Now, at least at first,
everyone on the team might
be better. You have to find
where you fit in, find your
role and believe in yourself.”
As for the physical part of
the game, she hopes to improve
across the board.
“You can never work too
hard,” she said. “I want to
get better in all phases. I’ve
been working on my shooting
and ball handling, getting
stronger. I really want to
get that sense of confidence
in my head to where I can
just go out there and be myself
on the court and have
fun.”
LISTEN UP
“I hate to see him graduate; maybe he’s got a
year of eligibility somewhere we don’t know
about.”
Desi Vuillaume — Sandburg boys soccer coach, on the prospect of
senior Jimmy Margas moving on after his hat-trick performance Sept.
26
What 2 Watch
Girls volleyball — 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5
• Sandburg faces a road conference test
with this match at Bolingbrook.
INDEX
40 - Athlete of the Week
40 - Athlete of the Month
Compiled by Sports Editor Tim Carroll, t.carroll@22ndcm.com.