Alphonso Ford

Ford confirmed his tremendous scoring ability in the EuroLeague, and became a reference in the matter, notwithstanding his chronic health issues.

Upon entering college basketball at Mississippi Valley State University, Ford led the entire NCAA Division I in freshman scoring, during the 1989–90 season, with a 29.9 points per game average.

Ford was a four-time All-Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) selection; a feat that only he and Harry Kelly accomplished.

He spent the season with Papagou, and led the team to a ninth-place finish, while also being the Greek competition's leading scorer, with 23.9 points per contest.

He signed a one-year deal with Sporting, a traditional Greek club that was struggling to remain in Greece's top basketball scene.

Tau qualified for the quarterfinals, sweeping the playoff series between the two teams, by two games to none, but Ford's performance is now part of the EuroLeague legend.

In the 2001–02 season, the Greek EuroLeague powerhouse, Olympiacos, offered Ford a $1 million net income single-year contract.

Ford could actually not prevent an 85–89 home loss to Olimpija Ljubljana, although he had a solid performance that night, with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists.

The major Greek EuroLeague clubs were forced to reduce their budgets, due to the renovation of their arenas for the 2004 Summer Olympics, in Athens.

Unfortunately, Ford had one of his worst shooting nights ever, in the semifinal against Benetton Treviso: he scored 15 points, making only 5 of his 19 shots.

The player who replaced Ford on Scavolini Pesaro, following his death, Charles Smith, would win the award the very next season.