MIES (Switzerland) - Atanas (Nasko) Golomeev, a former McGill hoops All-Canadian and one of the most influential players in Bulgarian, European, Canadian collegiate and international basketball, will be inducted to the 2019 class of the FIBA Hall of Fame on August 30, on the eve of the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Beijing, China. 

Born July 5, 1947 in Sofia, Bulgaria, Golomeev is among eight former players being enshrined into the Hall of Fame alongside Janeth Arcain (Brazil), Margo Dydek (Poland - posthumously), Alonzo Mourning (United States), Fabricio Oberto (Argentina), Jose "Piculin" Ortiz (Puerto Rico), Mohsen Medhat Warda (Egypty) and Jiri Zidek (Czech Republic). Joining them are coaches Natalia Hejkova (Slovak Republic), Bogdan Tanjevic (Montenegro) and Mou Zuoyun (China - posthumously). They were selected from a list of more than 150 candidates. 

Golomeev was a 6-foot-8, 220-pound, low-post, scoring machine, who dismantled defences across Bulgaria, Canada, Europe and the world for nearly two decades. 

Golomeev, known as "Nasko" by his friends, discovered basketball in 1961 with the World University Games, which was being played in his home city of Sofia. After receiving free tickets to watch the basketball competition, Golomeev was drawn to the play of the Brazilian players and some of the better Bulgarians, such as Ljubomir Panov and Victor Radev. Golomeev had been a football goalkeeper in school, participated in the high jump and discuss throw and was also considered a good swimmer. He would eventually hit the hardwood for good and joined CSKA Sofia at 18 years old.
 

Golomeev was a quick study and showed his prowess in the game right away, making his debut for Bulgaria at the FIBA European junior men's championship in 1966, averaging a tournament-high 17.6 points, including games with 34 and 32 points. He showed he could play against older players at the club as well, helping CSKA Sofia to the Bulgarian league title in 1968. 

At 21 years of age, and already a member of the Bulgarian national team, Golomeev was permitted to follow his family to Montreal, where his father was serving as a diplomat for Bulgaria. Golomeev attended McGill University for the 1968-69 year -- where he studied architecture -- and dominated the Canadian collegiate circuit. Five decades later, he still holds the McGill single-season overall scoring record with 37.5 points in 24 games.

Golomeev reached the 50-point plateau four times with McGill, scoring a school and OQAA record 56 in a 105-83 home victory over Queen's on Feb. 7, 1969, while pulling down a mammoth 27 rebounds in that contest. His personal best rebounding tally occurred in a 101-89 OQAA semifinal loss at Windsor (Feb. 28/69), the eventual Canadian university champions. In that game,  he ended up with 37 points and a school record 30 rebounds before fouling out with 11:11 remaining. By halftime, he already had a "double-double" with 24 points and 21 boards.

He finished that season with a McGill record 900 points in 24 games overall. In regular season play, the rookie led the Ontario-Quebec Athletic Association in both scoring and rebounding, averaging Canadian university records of 37.6 points and 18.1 rebounds per game.

After one season in Canada, Golomeev drew some interest from NBA scouts but that was not politically possible as it would mean the loss his amateur status and that he would not be able to play for the Bulgarian national team, for which he debuted at the first of five FIBA EuroBaskets in 1969. Golomeev ended up returning to Bulgaria and played with Academic Sofia, from 1969 to 1974 and helping them to four straight league titles from 1970 to 1973.  
 

Golomeev excelled just as much on the international stage as he averaged 18.6 points at the 1971 EuroBasket championship to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. Those numbers jumped to a tournament-best 22.3 points a game at EuroBasket 1973, once again taking a spot on the all-tourney squad. He repeated both of those feats at EuroBasket 1975, averaging an event-best 23.1 points and being picked a third time for the selection team. Golomeev remained unstoppable at the international level two years later, averaging 20.1 points and earning a fourth straight all-star spot.

His attempts to qualify for the Olympic team were unsuccessful but he did play in the 1976 pre-Olympic tournament and the 1980 European Olympic qualification tourney.

In between the 1973 and 1975 EuroBaskets, Golomeev switched clubs within the Bulgarian capital, going from Academic to Levski Sofia in 1974. Success followed the big man as Levski won the national league crown in 1978, 1979, 1981 and 1982 to go with the 1976, 1979, 1982 and 1983 Bulgarian cups. 

Golomeev made history in 1981 when at age 34 he became the first Bulgarian player to receive legal permission to play abroad. He signed for Turkish club Adana and stayed there for two seasons - during which time he remained involved with Levski as an employee. He returned to Bulgaria in 1983 for one final season at Levski, who he then coached to the league crown in 1986.

In 1991, Golomeev was named as one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players and he served as the president of the Bulgarian Basketball Federation from 1991 to 1993.