A new page opens in Aris’ basketball history, as the club officially announced the agreement with Vasilis Spanoulis for the next three years.

The coach of the Greek national basketball team, who left mid-season from Monaco (which he had led the previous year to the EuroLeague final), had been on the radar of the “yellows” for several weeks, and what seemed like…unlikely has become reality, with the management of Richard Chao making the first major move since taking over the fortunes of the historic club.

The key person behind this historic agreement is none other than Aris’ GM—and also Spanoulis’ best man—Nikos Zisis, who had been preparing the groundwork for quite some time. Through the appropriate handling of the situation, he managed, step by step, to turn the initially minimal chances into real ones, leading us to today, when the deal was finalized.

Shortly before the official announcement from the yellow-and-black club (KAE), Spanoulis’ agent, Misko Raznatovic, had already prepared everyone for what was about to follow by posting on social media: “Every 16 years it is my turn to play a role in reshaping Greek and European basketball.”

The Serbian was referring to the bombshell transfer of (player) Spanoulis, who left Panathinaikos for Olympiacos in 2010, and now 16 years later he has closed the deal for the… transfer of (coach Spanoulis) to Aris.

Information indicates that the “yellows” offered everything possible to the Thessalian in order to convince him to move to Thessaloniki for the first time in his career (from Larissa he went to Maroussi and from there to Panathinaikos and Olympiacos), as beyond guarantees of a massive increase in the team’s budget (already there are reports of big names from EuroLeague teams), he was given a princely contract worth €2 million per year, making him the highest-paid coach in Europe!

And all this from a team that next season will compete in the EuroCup and not the EuroLeague, but is showing in this way how much it wants to return as quickly as possible to its glorious past.

Full announcement:

“Aris BC Betsson announces its agreement with Vasilis Spanoulis for the next three years.

Born on August 7, 1982, Vasilis Spanoulis is the head coach of the Greek national team and one of the greatest basketball players of all time in Europe.

He began his playing career in Larissa and in 2003 transferred to Maroussi, where he stayed until 2005. In the 2005–06 season he played for Panathinaikos, before making the move to the NBA and the Houston Rockets.

In the summer of 2007 he returned to Panathinaikos, where he remained until 2010. That year he moved to Olympiacos, where he stayed until the end of his playing career in 2021.

His coaching career

The new coach of Aris BC Betsson began his coaching career in 2022 at Peristeri, where he stayed for two seasons, leading the team to the Basketball Champions League Final Four in 2024 and winning the Coach of the Year award for the season.

In November 2024 he took over the technical leadership of Monaco, leading them to the Final Four and the EuroLeague final. He left the French team in March 2026. Vasilis Spanoulis has been the head coach of the Greek Men’s National Team since October 2023. Under his guidance, our national team won its first medal in a major competition since 2009, taking 3rd place at EuroBasket 2025.”