Konstantine Demetrios “Kosta” Koufos was born on February 24, 1989 in Canton, Ohio. He is a Greek-American professional basketball player.
Koufos is a dual citizen of both the United States and Greece. Currently he is playing for the Denver Nuggets, and also played for the senior Greek national basketball team. In the 2008 NBA Draft, Koufos was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 23rd overall pick.
For one year Koufos played basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes. As a senior he was a McDonald’s All-American, and Rivals.com ranked him as #3 center of the 2007 high school class. In 2007, Koufos was nominated second to Buckeye teammate in the Mr. Ohio Basketball voting.
During his senior season with GlenOak, Koufos was named the Division I player of the year and was also named First-Team All-State. As a junior, Koufos averaged 24 points per game, 11.1 rebounds per game, and four blocked shots per game.
Koufos joined the Ohio State Buckeyes, in 2007, He was named the MVP of the 2008 National Invitation Tournament (NIT). During his career at Ohio State, Koufos averaged 14.4 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game, and 1.8 blocked shots per game.
The Jazz assigned Koufos to the NBA D-League club the Utah Flash in March 2009. However, after the Flash’s first playoff game, the Jazz recalled him from the D-League in time for the playoffs.
On March, 2010 Koufos was re-assigned to the Flash and recalled on March, 2010. Koufos was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, on July, 2010. Koufos was traded to the Denver Nuggets in a three-way blockbuster deal, on February, 2011.
FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship which took place in Spain in 2007, Koufos was a member of the junior Greek national under-18 team. Koufos won the tournament award after leading the competition in points, rebounds and blocked shots.
Koufos is considered to be one of the top Greek basketball center talents.
He won a bronze medal in 2009 FIBA European Championship. Some other achievements made by Koufos are, he won Silver Medal in 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship: MVP, 2008 National Invitation Tournament: MVP and also 2009 FIBA European Championship: Bronze Medal.
A brief career information for Koufos showed he played for Ohio State his NBA Draft 2008 / Round: 1 / Pick: 23rd overall Selected by the Utah Jazz and his Pro career 2008–present. Koufos career history highlights showed he played for Utah Jazz (2008–2010), for Utah Flash (2009, 2010), Minnesota Timberwolves (2010–2011) and for Denver Nuggets (2011–present).