BERKELEY – Nikolaos Papanikolaou has conquered just about everything there is to conquer in collegiate water polo. Now, he's taking it to the next level.

On Wednesday, the two-time national player of the year and three-time NCAA champion received a call-up to compete for a spot on the Greek men's water polo national team, which will be playing in both the men's water polo European Championship and World Aquatics Championship in the coming months.

"Just to be a part of the 2023 players that get to compete for a spot is very exciting, for sure," Papanikolaou said. "Getting called to the national team, I believe, is the greatest honor for any athlete."

Papanikolaou is one of 23 players who were invited to Team Greece's upcoming camps to compete for one of the team's 15 roster spots. The news comes just three days after Papanikolaou capped off his legendary Cal career with a third straight national title and NCAA Championship MVP award.

"My family is very excited," Papanikolaou said. "It was 2 a.m. back in Greece and my siblings, my parents, they were all watching the championship. They are super thrilled and, of course, proud for my accomplishments here, but also for the fact that I might be playing for the national team."

Thanks to a second-place finish at the 2023 World Championships in July, Greece has already clinched a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics. After the roster is finalized, the team will head to Croatia for the European Championships on Jan. 4-16, 2024. The World Championships will be held from Feb. 5-17 in Doha, Qatar.

"These camps and these tournaments are good practice for the Olympics for all of us," Papanikolaou said. "It's not certain that I'm going to be a part of it, but it's such a big honor."

Papanikolaou – who finishes his last semester as a student-athlete at Cal next week – hasn't played for Team Greece since he became a Golden Bear in 2019. However, he decided earlier this year that he plans to continue his playing career post graduation.

"It's a new decision. In the summer, I thought to myself that I don't want to stop playing yet," Papanikolaou said. "I thought I'd go back to Greece, or Europe in general, and try to play a little bit more. That's my plan right now."

As an economics major with a minor in data science, Papanikolaou has earned numerous Pac-12 Honor Roll and MPSF and ACWPC All-Academic honors. Regardless of how many more years he spends playing water polo, once his time in the pool is over, he hopes to return to California to pursue other interests.

"You cannot compare it to Greece, Europe, or anywhere else. The U.S. is the best place to explore different job opportunities," Papanikolaou said. "I'm interested in a wide array of jobs around finance. I really like data analysis, so maybe something that combines the two, gathering and interpreting data. I've met a lot of people here and expanded my network a lot in the last four and a half years. I'm willing to explore what I'm really interested in."

When asked if he would consider someday receiving the torch from his eight-time national champion head coach Kirk Everist at the helm of the Cal men's water polo program, Papanikolaou responded with his typical playful sarcasm, "I'm coming for him."

But, with his sights currently set on breaking new ground in Greece's upcoming competitions, right now, Papanikolaou is more excited about the prospect of playing against one of his closest teammates next summer in Paris.

"It's going to be very difficult for that to happen. There is a lot of competition," Papanikolaou said about potentially facing off against Team USA and Cal goalkeeper Adrian Weinberg. "But that's the ultimate dream. If not next year, then 2028 in Los Angeles."

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