UND men’s basketball rounds out 2024-2025 roster with addition of Georgian forward

Jun. 28—GRAND FORKS — UND men’s basketball will have another player from the Republic of Georgia on the 2024-2025 roster.

George Natsvlishvili, a 6-foot-10 forward, will join the Fighting Hawks this fall.

Natsvlishvili will join the team a season after former Hawk forward and Georgia native Tsotne Tsartsidze exhausted his NCAA eligibility.

“George is a highly skilled and versatile forward that can make threes and handle the ball with guard skills,” UND coach Paul Sather said. “He has competed for the country of Georgia over the years in international play and had good success against very good competition.”

Natsvlishvili, who is 20 years old, played in three leagues last season: the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League, Latvia’s Ramirent Nacional Basketball Liga and Spain’s LEB league, the third basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system.

In the Latvian-Estonian league, Natsvlishvili scored 25 points in 67 total minutes of play. He shot 66.7% and added 2 rebounds per game.

Natsvlishvili scored in double-digits in four of his six games in the Latvian league, averaging 14 points per game while shooting 50%. He averaged 7.2 rebounds per game.

He shot 57.1% in limited action over the six games Natsvlishvili spent in the Spanish league.

Natsvlishvili played in the FIBA U20 European Championship in 2023, where he averaged 13.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists over seven games played. He led his team in points per game during the tournament.

Natsvlishvili was named to the team again for the 2024 tournament that begins July 12 in Romania.

His growth — physically and on the court — over two seasons is evident. Natsvlishvili averaged 8.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists over five games during the FIBA U18 European Challengers tournament in 2021.

He grew two inches after that tournament, giving him the size needed to succeed in the paint. Natsvlishvili has the potential to be a perimeter threat, too.

“George has some great basketball in front of him,” Sather said, “and we’re excited to get him on campus to start the work.”

Natsvlishvili’s father, Vakhtang, was the captain of the Georgian National Basketball Team from 1997 to 2007. His uncle, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, was selected fifth overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 2002 NBA Draft and played 172 games for five organizations over four NBA seasons.