 In 1961, Panathinaikos won the Greek League championship with new leaders Georgios Vassilakopoulos, Stelios Tavoularis and Petros Panagiotarakos.In 1962, Panathinaikos made the repeat, and was again the Greek League champion.That was also the year that PAO took part for the first time in a European-wide competition, as they faced Hapoel Tel Aviv in the FIBA European Champions Cup 1961–62 season.