John Calathes said his son, Florida sophomore guard Nick Calathes, remains in good spirits despite not making the Greek Olympic squad.
“Right now, he’s having a great time over there,” Calathes said. “He’s meeting a lot of new people and looking forward to playing with the under-21 team.”
In retrospect, John Calathes said his son should have probably arrived in Greece by June 14, but instead didn’t make it until June 20 because of passport issues and because he wanted to finish his first summer session at Florida. As a result, Calathes had just two days to try out and did not travel with the senior team when it left for Germany.
“I think he knew coming in it was going to be an uphill battle,” John Calathes said. “There are a lot of great players, older players. The big thing for both him and his older brother Pat (Calathes) is that they have their passports and will be able to play overseas or on national teams in the future.”
With the Greek Under-21 team, Calathes will play in Domegge Di Cavare, Italy, July 18-20, Quimper, France from July 24-26 and at the European Championships in Rega, Latvia, from Aug. 1-10. He’ll be back in Florida on Aug. 12, in time for the start of the fall semester.
