Perhaps the biggest influence in recent UNBC’s women’s basketball history changed the course not just in Prince George, but in B.C. and across Canada.
Vasiliki Louka was clearly more than just a six-foot-four forward that broke records and ruled the paint on game nights as her dynamic presence and drive to win became an instant influence for every single teammate between 2014 and 2019.
In those five years, she ringed in a new generation of goal-oriented athletes now forever recognized on the Timberwolves’ Wall of Honour announced by the school this morning (March 16).
The Athens, Greece import was recruited by Sergey Shchepotkin, who was just starting as the new head coach and remains in that position to this day but has since implemented a new strategy to the green-and-gold fold in applying European play to the Canadian court.
Louka says she was able to continue the fundamentals she grew up with across the Atlantic, while also understanding basketball was more than that.
“College basketball is more about how to be an athlete, so when I came to Prince George, I learned what it means to train not just to be a good athlete, but also how to be a good basketball player,” she said when asked by PrinceGeorgeMatters about the transition.
“You need to practice a lot; it’s not about just how to put the ball in the basket, but also, you need to be able to out-run your defender and your opponent. I think what Sergey helped me most was to find myself. He let me play a lot, which was very rare for a rookie. He let me play through my mistakes and that’s how I learn what I like as a basketball player and what not.”
When Louka landed at UNBC, she was immediately put to work in her rookie campaign, starting in 19 of the 20 games, and by regular-season’s end, she was a top-five blocker in Canada West (2.0 per game).
Her career went to big heights as the current T-Wolves record holder, men or women, in all-time blocks with 128, nearly triple the next alum in Emily Aase with 43.
In her fifth and final year, Louka also led the Prince George post-secondary to its first winning season in women’s basketball history, 11-9, and it’s first playoff victory since joining Canada West in 2012.
Skills aside, Louka told PrinceGeorgeMatters she only had one goal in mind… to win games and compete with her teammates at the highest level possible.
The one thing she wishes the Timberwolves can achieve in the years to come that she never could is earning the chance to play against Canada’s best programs.
“My last year, I really thought that we could go not just to the second round, but even further down because we had a really good team. I [also] really wanted to be named ‘Player of the Year’ in Canada West and that was something I didn’t accomplish, so I was very sad, but it is what it is. But, with the team in my last [year, 2019], it was, for me, I think we could’ve gone to nationals. It was the best team UNBC ever had as a group. I hope that they will accomplish it at some point because this school, I think, can really do it. They deserve it.”
Louka did earn one important national recognition in her third year with the lady T-Wolves.
U SPORTS named her the National Female Athlete of the Week for Dec. 7, 2016, which is chosen by the governing body across all programs in action in a given season.
In her home country of Greece, she now competes with its national team, and has done so the last two years since graduating UNBC that’s hoping to win a European championship and earn a spot in a future Summer Olympics.
To Louka, family has always been important for her, which also prompted her to decide to leave the comfort of home on a around-the-globe move to northern B.C., advancing in the sport she really loves.
“The decision of why I came to Prince George was because of Sergey and also because [Vaggelis] was joining too,” she explained.
“So the fact that I had a European coaching me, it was an easier transition from European style to college basketball would be a lot easier for me. When I first came, I realized Sergey [was] playing the same type of basketball I used to play. Very quick, very fast basketball with many transitions and fast breaks, but he still wanted us to think and put our minds into the game. That was what made us unique in a way. We had players who weren’t just physical and good athletes, we had players who were smart playing basketball.”
Louka’s accolades included:
- 2015 UNBC Female Rookie of the Year
- 2017 UNBC Female Athlete of the Year
- 2018 UNBC Female Athlete of the Year
- 2018 Canada West Second Team All-Star
- 2019 UNBC Female Athlete of the Year
- 2019 Canada West First Team All-Star
Her name in Timberwolves records include:
- First = 128 all-time T-Wolves basketball blocks, men or women
- First = 981 all-time T-Wolves basketball rebounds, men or women
- Brother Vaggelis Loukas leads men’s team with 572
- First = 359 all-time T-Wolves basketball free throws made, men or women
- Second = 1,498 all-time T-Wolves basketball points, men or women
- Second = 15.0 all-time T-Wolves women’s basketball points-per-game average
- Second = 9.8 all-time T-Wolves basketball rebounds-per-game average, men or women
- Fourth = 100 all-time T-Wolves women’s basketball steals
- Sixth = 187 all-time T-Wolves women’s basketball assists
“She had a massive impact from day one,” said Coach Shchepotkin of Louka and the tone she’s set for the future.
“She asked a lot of herself, and her dedication raised her level and the level of her teammates. I think Vasiliki did a lot to help make UNBC Women’s Basketball recognizable across the conference and the country. She deserves this induction so much.”
Louka first signed a contract with Olympiacos in Greece the summer after UNBC grad, and is now with Helsingborg in Sweden’s professional league.
The now Wall of Honour inductee is thrilled to be enshrined among other great athletes from her alma mater.
“I was very honoured and very happy to hear that. I wasn’t expecting it. When I said it to my family and to my friends they were very very happy for me. I’m really excited and really thankful for this because I know not everyone can have the same experience.”
She’s the third women’s basketball player to be part of the first UNBC Athletics’ 2021 class, joining Prince George’s Mercedes VanKoughnett and Jaclyn Nazareno.
Louka is the ninth of 15 inductees expected to be announced for the Wall of Honour.
It has since included (in order of announcements):
- Inderbir Gill (men’s basketball)
- Tofa Fakunle (men’s soccer)
- Mercedes VanKoughnett (women’s basketball)
- Sidney Roy (women’s soccer)
- Jay Gladish (men’s basketball)
- Jaclyn Nazareno (women’s basketball)
- Scott Debianchi (men’s soccer)
- 2010 UNBC men’s basketball team
- Vasiliki Louka
