Giorgi Shermadini

Player profile

Shermadini is a legitimate seven-footer who understands well how to use his body to maintain good positioning. He possesses a nice jump hook shot and he has excellent fundamentals and offensive skills. He is a defensive presence with his long wingspan and his shot-blocking ability.

Professional career

In the 2004–05 season, Giorgi was the top scorer of the Georgian Youth League. His highest point total in one game was 89 points scored against the Sokhumi State University team and he also had a 76 point, 16 rebound, and 6 assist game as well. He also had a 52 point game, a 54 point game, and another game where he scored 60 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and dished out 7 assists. He also participated in the Adidas Superstar Camp. His performance at the Adidas Superstar Camp earned him a selection to the World All-Star Team. In January 2005, he had his first practice with Maccabi Tbilisi’s Junior Team. Shermadini started playing basketball professionally when he was 16 years old on the Georgian basketball team Maccabi Tbilisi.

In his first season in the Georgian League, during the 2005–06 season, he averaged 28.5 points per game, 14.7 rebounds per game, 2.8 assists per game, 3.0 blocks per game, and 1.2 steals per game at the age of 17. Following the 2005–06 season, Giorgi was invited to the “Basketball Without Borders” (BWB) Europe camp conducted at Vilnius, Lithuania from June 30 to July 3. During the 2006–07 season, at 18 years old, he averaged the highest points per game ever in the Georgian League. He averaged 35.1 points per game, 16.4 rebounds per game, 4.7 assists per game, 3.4 blocks per game, and 2.6 steals per game. This included a game where he scored 60 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and dished out 6 assists. During the 2007–08 season, at the age of 19, he averaged 33.5 points per game, 18.4 rebounds per game, 4.8 assists per game, 3.2 blocks per game, and 2.3 steals per game in the Georgian League.

In April 2007, Giorgi Shermadini was invited to the “Nike Hoop Summit” World Select Team. Unfortunately, Giorgi did not participate with the World Select Team due to an injury to his meniscus, which required surgery. He declared as an early-entry candidate for the NBA Draft in 2008, and he went undrafted in the 2008 NBA draft as some concerns still remain among NBA scouts over his injury.

Shermadini signed with the EuroLeague giants, the Greek League club Panathinaikos in 2008. He debuted on the 29th of November 2008, at the game against Egaleo, playing for 6 minutes and scoring 4 points. His EuroLeague debut came on the 17th of December 2008, playing for 10 minutes and scoring 1 point against SLUC Nancy. His next game came in the Greek League on the 15th of February 2009, against Trikala 2000. He scored 9 points (a personal high for him to that date while at Panathinaikos) with two dunks and 5/5 free throws. He surpassed his personal best again, although playing only for 12 minutes, by scoring 13 points at a home game against Union Kavala-Panorama, on 15 of April 2009.

In October 2010, he was sent by Panathinaikos on a one-year loan to Union Olimpija of the Adriatic League. In October 2011, he was again loaned by Panathinaikos, this time to the Italian league club Bennet Cantù. In June 2012, he signed a two-year deal with the Israeli Super League club Maccabi Tel Aviv.

In December 2012, he signed a deal with the Greek League club Olympiacos. With Olympiacos, he won the 2012–13 season championship of the EuroLeague. In summer 2013, he signed with CAI Zaragoza, a team of the Spanish League. He left the team in February 2014, in order to come back to Olympiacos. On August 9, 2015, he signed with MoraBanc Andorra.

Georgian national team

In June 2005, despite his brief playing experience, Giorgi was picked for the Under-16 Junior National Team of Georgia, and he played in the Youth Olympic Games in Moscow. Later in 2005, he played in the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, in Bulgaria.

Later in August 2006, he was the youngest player ever picked to the senior men's Georgian National Basketball Team when he made the men's senior national team at the age of just 17. He played alongside teammates, Zaza Pachulia (Atlanta Hawks), Nikoloz Tskitishvili (Teramo Basket), Shammond Williams (Pamesa Valencia), Viktor Sanikidze (Tartu Ülikool/Rock), Manuchar Markoishvili (Olimpija Ljubljana) and Vladimir Boisa (Menorca Bàsquet).

Following his surgery and rehabilitation for his meniscus injury that he suffered in 2007; he was invited to the Under-20 Junior National Team of Georgia. At 18 years old, he played in the 2007 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. Despite playing at much less than full strength, due to his recent surgery and rehabilitation, he was the top scorer on the Georgian Under-20 National Team, averaging 12.5 points per game, 7.4 rebounds per game, and 1.5 assists per game in 23.8 minutes played per game. He was also the second-leading shot blocker in the Under-20 European Championship, averaging 2.1 blocked shots per game. At the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, Shermadini shot 74% from the field, averaged 21.5 points per game, 10.5 rebounds per game, 1.2 assists per game, and 3.7 blocks per game.

Currently, Giorgi is a member of the senior men's Georgian national basketball team.

Awards and accomplishments