Matt Lojeski

Matthew Thomas Lojeski (born July 24, 1985) is an American-Belgian[1] former professional basketball player who last played for AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League. He also represents the senior men's Belgian national basketball team. Standing at 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), and weighing 92 kg (203 lbs.),[2] he plays at the shooting guard and small forward positions.[3]

Matt Lojeski
Matt Lojeski
Personal information
Born (1985-07-24) July 24, 1985
Racine, Wisconsin
NationalityAmerican / Belgian
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight203 lb (92 kg)
Career information
High schoolSt. Catherine's (Racine, Wisconsin)
College
NBA draft2007: undrafted
Playing career2007–2021
PositionSmall forward / shooting guard
Career history
2007–2009Okapi Aalst
2009–2013Oostende
2013–2017Olympiacos
2017–2019Panathinaikos
2019–2020Tofaş
2020–2021AEK Athens
Career highlights and awards

High school career

Lojeski played high school basketball at St. Catherine's High School in Racine, Wisconsin. While in high school, Lojeski played basketball, baseball, and soccer, and also competed in cross country sports. As a basketball player, he was named All-County and All-Conference twice, and All-State once. As a baseball player, he was named All-Conference twice.[4]

College career

Lojeski played college basketball at Eastern Wyoming College (NJCAA) from 2003 to 2005. At Eastern Wyoming, he was named to the NJCAA All-Tournament Team in 2004, and to the NJCAA All-American Third Team in 2005.

After being recruited by the Utah State Aggies and the DePaul Blue Demons, Lojeski ultimately decided to play at the University of Hawaii (NCAA Division I), where he played with the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, from 2005 to 2007. While at Hawaii, he was selected to the Great Alaska Shootout's All-Tournament Team, and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Rainbow Classic in 2006. He was also selected to the All-WAC Newcomer Team in 2006. He was named to the All-WAC Second Team in 2007.[5]

Professional career

Lojeski began his pro career in 2007, with the Belgian League club Okapi Aalst. While a member of the Aalst team, he was named the Belgian League MVP in 2009.[6] He then moved to the Belgian League club Oostende.

With Oostende, he won the Belgian Cup in 2010 and 2013, and the Belgian League championship in 2012 and 2013. He was also named the Belgian Cup MVP in 2013,[7] and the Belgian League MVP the same year.[8]

On July 31, 2013, Lojeski signed a two-year contract with the back-to-back defending EuroLeague champions Olympiacos.[9][10] On November 16, 2014, he extended his contract with Olympiacos until 2017.[11] With Olympiacos, he won the 2013 edition of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, and the Greek League championship in 2015 and 2016.

Lojeski has also played in the NBA Summer League, with the Summer League teams of the Utah Jazz and Milwaukee Bucks.[12]

On August 12, 2017, Lojeski signed a one-year deal with Greek club Panathinaikos.[13] In his very first year in Greens, he won the Greek Championship. In the 5th final (best-of-five-series) against Olympiakos, (84:70) Matt had 12 points, four rebounds and four assists. Lojeski renewed his contract with Panathinaikos for another season on July 28, 2018. On February 17, 2019, he won the Greek Cup title after Panathinaikos beat PAOK (79:73) in the big final, held in Heraklion, Crete. At the end of the season, Matt won another Championship with the Greens (3rd in a row and 38th trophy for Panathinaikos) having 8.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 17.9 minutes per game. Panathinaikos beat Promitheas in the play-off final series with 3-0 victories.

On August 5, 2019, he signed with Tofaş of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi.[14]

On July 26, 2020, Lojeski agreed to return to Greece, this time for AEK Athens.[15]

National team career

Lojeski received Belgian nationality in May 2013, making him eligible to play for the senior men's Belgian national basketball team.[16] After playing in the team's preparation stage in several friendly games, he was selected to play for Belgium at the EuroBasket 2013. However, he could not play at the tournament, due to an injury.[17]

He made his debut in an official tournament with Belgium, at EuroBasket 2015. On September 7, 2015, during EuroBasket 2015, he hit a buzzer-beating tip-in against Lithuania, which gave Belgium a 76–74 win. Belgium ended the competition at the tournament's Round of 16, where they lost to Greece, by a score of 75–54.[18] Over 6 EuroBasket 2015 tournament games, Lojeski averaged 11.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game, on 49.1% shooting from the field.[19]

Career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

EuroLeague
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2013–14 Olympiacos 291325.0.518.430.7784.02.0.6.111.112.6
2014–15 25724.2.489.432.6253.81.61.0.39.510.6
2015–16 11321.6.506.450.8133.52.5.5.110.112.0
2016–17 26221.4.494.420.8273.11.6.5.39.911.3
2017–18 Panathinaikos 271818.3.467.455.7002.4.7.3.15.74.6
2018–19 25615.9.517.356.9202.2.9.2.16.56.3
Career 1434922.1.499.426.7903.11.5.5.28.79.4

Awards and accomplishments

College
  • NJCAA All-Tournament Team: (2004)
  • NJCAA All-American Third Team: (2005)
  • Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team: (2006)
  • Rainbow Classic Most Outstanding Player: (2006)
  • All-WAC Newcomer Team: (2006)
  • All-WAC Second Team: (2007)

Pro career

References
  1. MattLojeski.com - Citizenship: U.S./Belgian. Archived 2013-07-30 at the Wayback Machine
  2. MATTHEW LOJESKI Height: 198 cm Weight: 92 kg.
  3. About Matt Personal Details. Archived 2013-07-30 at the Wayback Machine
  4. MATT LOJESKI Prep:
  5. 21 MATT LOJESKI:
  6. The.Honoluluadvertiser.com Ex-'Bow Lojeski best in Belgium.
  7. FIBAEurope.com Oostende, MZT Skopje Clinch Cup Titles.
  8. DeMorgen.br Matt Lojeski blijft BC Oostende trouw (in Dutch).
  9. "Olympiakos BC officially sign Matt Lojeski". Sportando. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  10. "OLYMPIACOS acquires Lojeski from Oostende". Euroleague.net. Archived from the original on August 3, 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  11. "Olympiacos extends Matt Lojeski till June 2017". Sportando.com. November 16, 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  12. Professional History/Accomplishments.
  13. "Στον Παναθηναϊκό Superfoods ο Ματ Λοτζέσκι". paobc.gr (in Greek). August 12, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  14. "Matt Lojeski signs in Turkey with Tofas Bursa". Sportando. August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  15. "Aek Athens officially signs Matt Lojeski". Sportando. July 27, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  16. Court-Side.com Matt Lojeski added by Olympiacos.
  17. Eurobasket2013.org Roundup: Mancinelli, Lojeski Ruled Out. Archived 2013-09-01 at the Wayback Machine
  18. "GREECE TOO MUCH FOR BELGIUM". eurobasket2015.org. 12 September 2015. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  19. "Matt Lojeski". eurobasket2015.org. FIBA Europe. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
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