A familiar face is back on Panathinaikos OPAP Athens bench, Georgios Vovoras, who has been promoted from assistant to head coach for next season, the club announced on Wednesday. Vovoras, 43, had coached Panathinaikos for one week last season on an interim basis, after Argyris Pedoulakis was released and before Rick Pitino stepped in. He led the team during a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague double-round week in which Panathinaikos took back-to-back road victories: 85-86 against Zalgiris Kaunas and 75-87 against FC Bayern Munich. That was Vovoras's second time as the club's interim head coach. He also had done that job when Pedoulakis was released in October 2016, until Panathinaikos signed Xavi Pascual. Vovoras had a long career as an assistant coach, but also worked as head coach for OFI Crete of Greece and APOEL Nicosia of Cyprus. He helped APOEL win the Cypriot Cup title in 2016.

"It is a great honor and a huge responsibility for me to be the head coach of Panathinaikos," Vovoras said. "I have been a member of this huge family for many years and I understand the weight of the responsibility I take on. I don't like to say a lot of words. I promise that together with my colleagues we will work hard in order for the team to achieve its goals and to justify the administration for its trust."