[1] Katsikaris began playing basketball in the youth system of Ionikos Nikaias, and was promoted to the senior men's team at the age of 15, setting a record (at the time) for being the youngest player ever in the Greek top division.
While recollecting on his playing years, he's mentioned Panagiotis Giannakis as his role model, Rolando Blackman as his best ever teammate, and Nikos Galis as the most difficult player for him to guard.
In 2003, he was named head coach as part of a board's project to rebuild the squad with young players, after the glorious and expensive 1999–2003 period.
Youngsters who evolved into protagonists during his tenure, included future EuroBasket 2005 champions and EuroLeague stars, such as Nikos Zisis and Ioannis Bourousis.
The momentum was very difficult for both the club and the coach: Aris had just failed to qualify for the EuroLeague through the preliminary round, and Katsikaris had only a few days' time until the start of the Greek League to re-organize the team.
As the team was obviously underachieving during the first round of the season, including a nightmare defeat at the hands of "eternal enemy" PAOK, he decided to resign in January 2010, saying that he had joined Aris at the wrong time, and couldn't find a way to inspire the players.
The next season was to be even more successful: Bilbao made it to the Spanish League playoffs and reached the finals, defeating Valencia Basket and Real Madrid in the early rounds.
Although they eventually lost the title series to Barcelona Basquet, their 2nd-place finish in the post-season was the best position ever for Bilbao, plus it gave them an automatic 2011–12 Euroleague season ticket.