Big stage for Lojeski

More than ever before, former Hawaii basketball standout Matt Lojeski (2005-06 and 2006-07) is playing on the world’s stage.

“Lojo,” 29, in his second year with elite Greek club Olympiacos, has qualified for the Euroleague Final Four.

This is a pretty big deal in the international professional hoops ranks. It’s the most prestigious title a club can win outside of the NBA.

“Going to the Euroleague Final 4 is great,” said Lojeski in a message through one of his agents, Adam Pensack, who represents the former UH guard along with Adam’s brother Ben.

“It’s the highest level of competition in Europe. All of the teams are really good. We just need to focus on each game and play as a team and good things will happen.”

Olympiacos, which beat FC Barcelona 3-1 in a quarterfinal series, opens the one-and-done format against CSKA Moscow on May 15 in Madrid, Spain. Should Lojeski’s team advance, it will face the winner of Real Madrid and Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul for the Euroleague title. The games will be televised in the United States on NBA TV.

Lojeski (who competes with the same club in the Greek A1 league) is his team’s third-leading scorer — 9.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, and 1.7 apg in Euroleague play. Oympiacos is in first place in the Greek league at 23-1, with the playoffs to come. There’s not as much fanfare for that; Olympiacos is used to winning titles domestically. He’s averaged 11.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 24 minutes per game in the Greek league.

The Racine, Wis., native signed a two-year deal with Olympiacos in 2013 after six very successful years in Belgium, where he is a dual citizen. Olympiacos won two of the three Euroleague titles in club history in the two years prior to his arrival, so there was increased scrutiny and plenty of pressure for him to uphold that success.

Olympiacos came up short of the Euro Final Four in Lojeski’s first year in Athens, but he’s helped get the balanced club — former NBA player Vassilis Spanoulis is the leading scorer at 13.0 ppg — back to the promised land.

While he’s carved out a successful career half a world away, Lojeski is usually keen to offer up a thought or two about UH affairs.

“It’s been a great ride since my days at the University of Hawaii,” he said. “I still follow the school closely and with (Eran) Ganot back there I really like the direction the program is headed.”

I’ll provide an update on Lojeski and Olympiacos when the Euro Final Four is underway.