Basketball has always been part of Dean’s life. He started playing with the National Hellenic International Basketball Tournament (NHIBT) and the Greek Orthodox Athletic League (GOAL) when he was 11 and continued through the high school and collegiate divisions. He started coaching in 1990 and formally launched Papaflessas in 1991.
More than 25 years later, Dean’s team has grown from a handful of junior high school students at St. Spyridon’s grade school into a thriving program. He has traveled with his players to tournaments as far away as Canada, Ohio, Michigan, and Florida, and he can always count on an enthusiastic cheering section in the stands. And yet, he considers one of his top accomplishments to be that he continues to coach some of the very same young men from that first team—now in their 30s—in the men’s division. Just as much as a love of the sport, Dean fostered in them a rich community of friendship and pride in their Hellenic heritage.
In addition to his work with Papaflessas, Dean is currently President and Youth Chair of the NHIBT, where he has served as a member of the organizing committee since 2008. He started GOAL Biddy teams (Coed 5th/6th Grade and Coed 3rd/4th Grade) at Saints Constantine and Helen in Palos Hills, and in 2015 he helped launch the first ever Biddy division in the NHIBT to introduce younger players to the tournament. He still coaches in the GOAL program, and serves as the head coach for four teams (Men’s, Biddy, Coed 3rd/4th Grade, and Coed 5th/6th Grade) for Saints Constantine and Helen in Palos Hills. In 2015, he was inducted into the NHIBT Hall of Fame.
Outside of basketball, Dean is Vice President and Principal at FGM Architects, where he leads teams on the design school projects throughout Illinois. Together with his wife, Maria, he is proud that his two sons Demetri and Kristofer are continuing the family tradition by playing in the Tournament.
