Nov. 13, 2007

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Moraga, CA - The 2007-08 season will mark the 100th year in the history of men's basketball at Saint Mary's College. To recognize the 100 years of basketball, Saint Mary's will release the top-25 players of the last century. Saint Mary's will countdown players 25 through 17 on the nine days counting down to the opening game of the year.

Nick Pappageorge

Two-time All-West Coast Athletic Conference honoree Nick Pappageorge came to Saint Mary's in 1976 after spending two years at Skyline College. The 6-2 guard made an immediate impact on the Saint Mary's program, both as a dynamic scorer and distributor of the basketball. Pappageorge ended his two-year career at Saint Mary's averaging 18.8 points and 7.5 assists per game.

Pappageorge made an impact on the Gaels record books as well. Pappageorge ranks first in career assists average (7.6) and his 408 assists in two seasons ranked first when he graduated and is now third all-time. As a junior he set a the single season record with 213 assists, and his 195 assists his senior season is third all-time. In addition to his passing ability, Pappageorge was a big-time scorer. While posting a school record for assists as a junior, he made a school record 222 field goals and scored 523 total points, which ranks sixth all-time at SMC.

As we honor Nick's accomplishments at tonight's game, its ironic that his best scoring performance came against Cal State Bakersfield during the 1976-77 season. On January 11, 1977, he scored a career-high 36 points against the Roadrunners, which ranks as the ninth best single game performance in school history. Pappageorge ended his two-year career with 1,015 points and ranks 20th on the career-scoring list and his 18.8 points per game average is second all-time.

Players 16-through-1 will be released at each home game during the season, with No. 13 being announced at halftime of the game between SMC and Oregon on November 20. The best player in the history of the program will be named at the Gaels' final home game of the season on February 25 when SMC hosts San Diego at 7 p.m.