Sam Galanopoulos Provides Veteran Prescience to Women’s Basketball

Helping lead the charge as Loyola women’s basketball looks to make a statement in year two in the Atlantic 10 Conference is veteran point guard Sam Galanopoulos. Galanopoulos, a fifth-year, started in all 30 games last season and posted averages of 9.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists.

The Skokie native was raised in a Greek family as the youngest child of four siblings — two brothers and a sister — who all engaged in athletic recreation.

Galanopoulos first got into basketball by watching her siblings play in a church program run and coached by her father. While her parents offered her the opportunity to do other things, she, like her siblings, chose sports. 

Her brothers Tommy and Matt both played basketball until they chose to pursue college football. Her sister Alex was a vital member of her basketball team at Niles West High School but tore her ACL and never played in college. 

Growing up as the youngest meant Galanopoulos had a lot to prove as she would compete with her siblings in any sport, she said.

“I got my fair share of tears in the driveway,” Galanopoulos said. “But it paid off, because I think it certainly made me tough and disciplined and driven like how I am today.”

In those moments, she said her siblings also served as her role models as they emulated the traits she utilizes in basketball. She mentioned another major role model at the time was her sister’s high-school teammate and current WNBA player Jewell Loyd, who works out with Galanopoulos during the offseason.

Galanopoulos maintained her strong work ethic at Niles West as a four-year starter and member of the school’s 1,000-point club, earning several All-Central Suburban League selections and an All-State award her junior year. She also competed in Amateur Athletic Union competitions with the Full Package Athletics basketball club, where she now spends time assisting in coaching younger kids. 

During her junior year of high school — where she averaged 14.5 points, 4.8 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2 steals — Galanopoulos officially received collegiate offers from Northern Illinois University, Western Michigan University and Illinois State University and Loyola, who had initiated contact during her freshman year. 

While her parents claim the reason Galanopoulos chose Loyola is because of their alumni status, she said that isn’t the true reason. Location, a competitive league — the Missouri Valley Conference at the time — and hype surrounding Loyola’s legendary 2018 March Madness run were all motivators in her decision.

However, the accessibility for her parents to attend her games was the primary factor in her choice. 

“They literally took me to every practice, every tournament,” Galanopoulos said. “I think they only missed one, maybe two basketball games in my entire life, so the least I could do is play in front of them and make it accessible for them to be there.”

When Galanopoulos first enrolled at Loyola, she registered as a pre-med student in the hopes of becoming a doctor. After a few core classes, she quickly realized “this was not for me.” She then steered toward business and took a path in sports management and marketing.

In her first year on the team, Galanopoulos came off the bench in all 29 matches. Her averages of 4.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2 assists, along with 57 assists on the year — the third most on the roster — helped earn her a spot on the MVC All-Freshman​​ Team.

During her second and third-year campaigns, she showed significant progress as she inched closer to the starting point guard spot. She eventually clinched the role in Loyola’s final 16 games of the 2020-21 season before becoming the de-facto starter in the 2021-22 season. During those two seasons, she also posted the highest assist totals on the team — 69 and 98, respectively.

Then at the end of the 2022 season, the program underwent a dramatic change as it moved on from former head coach Kate Atcher and brought in current head coach Allison Guth. They also began the transition from the MVC to the A-10. With those changes, Galanopoulos now stands as the longest-tenured member of the program.

During her five years in the program, she has seen two transition periods in separate coaching staffs, while working with “ten plus coaches” and “ten plus teammates.” Guth said Galanopoulos had an immense impact during these transitions, especially while implementing new coaching schemes.

“She immediately understood the integrity at which we wanted to defend but step up in terms of our pressure and pace,” Guth said. “She really embraced what we were teaching and has been a sponge, a tremendous vocal leader.”

The 2022-23 season didn’t go as hoped, as the team limped to a 6-25 record and finished at the bottom of the A-10. Galanopoulos made the decision to stick with the team by claiming her extra year of availability due to the COVID-19 pandemic and enrolled in Quinlan’s graduate 4+1 program to pursue a masters degree in management.

Galanopoulos said the decision to pursue academics was a “golden opportunity,” but the return was built on loose ends and the state of the team.

“I chose to come back because I believe in our team and program,” Galanopoulos said. “Once we saw the girls that we were bringing in — this group is super special — I feel it, our team feels it. I’m telling myself ‘I’m gonna go out on the high.’ I always want to play the game as long as I physically can. I couldn’t walk away from it or leave Loyola with the result that we had last year.”

From a coaching perspective, Guth said that Galanopoulos’ decision to return, especially with the accessibility of the transfer portal, showed major commitment and belief in the team to be successful.

In her graduate year, the veteran has already made a major impact on the court for the team. This was evident in a recent showing against Bradley University Nov. 16, where she scored a career high 27 points and was later named A-10 Player of the Week.

Off the court she also plays a role in helping develop the first year athletes, and stressed the necessity fostering good relationships from her own first-year experience.

“I really try to make the new people’s, mostly the freshmen, transition as easy as possible,” Galanopoulos said. “I felt when I was a freshman, I had that but not to the preference that I probably would have needed as a freshman point guard in that position.”

Galanopoulos not only serves as a captain of the team and a representative of the athletics department but also as an important member of the student body, as seen in her role as the only student member on the Search Advisory Committee for Loyola’s new provost.

The opportunity came over the past summer when, on a family trip in Greece, she received an email from Loyola President Mark C. Reed. Initially fearing the worst, she learned director of athletics Steve Watson had nominated her for the position. She now speaks on behalf of student needs, particularly in areas involving the university’s curriculum.

Guth said her involvement on the new provost search committee is a clear example of what makes Galanopoulos stand out.

“I think she’s an unbelievably special woman,” Guth said. “You will not meet a player with a work ethic like hers when you talk about toughness and grit.” 

After basketball, Galanopoulos said she hopes to take her abilities to the professional level.

“I would love to play pro in Europe,” Galanopoulos said. “Whether that is in Greece, or I’ll take any opportunity to play anywhere. I’ve always told myself, ‘Play as long as you physically can.’” 

After retiring, Galanopoulos said she’d still love to pursue a coaching career or dig into her business background and work with professional teams or athletic departments in any situation involving sports.

And if the opportunity to return to Loyola came about?

“It wouldn’t be hard to convince me,” Galanopoulos said. “I literally love this place. I loved it so much that I decided to come back five times in a row.”

Featured image by Aidan Cahill | The Phoenix