Stavros Katsantonis

A native of Bakersfield, California, Katsantonis attended Liberty High School as well as Garces Memorial High School. His freshman and sophomore seasons where spent playing for the Garces Rams. A family hardship initiated the transfer to Liberty where Katsantonis would finish his high school career for his junior and senior seasons. He would go on to accumulate 145 tackles, 9 interceptions, and a total of 3 forced/recovered fumbles in his final two seasons of high school,[5][6] earning him all area honors at the safety position.[7][8]

While living in Bakersfield, California, Katsantonis was raised by his parents Jimmy and Becky Katsantonis. His father being an immigrant from Canada, Katsantonis would receive Canadian citizenship which would later work in his favor for his football endeavors. Katsantonis took after his father who also played collegiate football and won a Vanier Cup with the University of Calgary in 1988.

Katsantonis was also a multi-sport athlete participating in football, basketball, soccer, track and field, and hockey during his youth and throughout high school.

Katsantonis was high school teammates with Green Bay Packers and first round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, Quarterback Jordan Love as well as signed Packers UDFA Krys Barnes.[9]

Unranked coming out of high school and with no prominent D-1 or D-1AA offers Katsantonis' father advised his son to look to Canada. Coach Blake Nill at The University of British Columbia offered Katsantonis a scholarship in early 2015. Katsantonis accepted and played for Coach Nill's UBC T-Birds football team from 2015 to 2018.

In late January 2019, Katsantonis announced his entrance into both the CFL and NFL drafts.[19] Katsantonis participated at the 2019 CFL Combine in late March 2019. He ran a 4.54 40-yard dash, had 13 reps of 225 pounds, a 38-inch vertical jump, and a 118-inch broad jump.[20] He also improved upon his numbers at his pro day where CFL and NFL teams were in attendance. Katsantonis had times of a 4.18 pro shuttle and 6.56 3 cone drill at his pro day.

Katsantonis attended the CFL National Combine and completed all the combine and positional drills. On April 4, 2019, Katsantonis attended UBC's pro day to build upon his combine numbers and draft interests on both sides of the border.[21] He was projected to be a 3rd to 4th round pick by the majority of CFL draft experts and scouts.[22]

On April 25, 2019, it was announced that Katsantonis had a doping violation slated against him due to a positive drug test from the CFL Combine.[23] The substance was announced as SARMs LGD-4033 a synthetic supplement that enhances muscle growth. Katsantonis claimed that the positive test was due to a contaminated substance and that it was unintentional.[24] He later commented to various new outlets that he did not do his due diligence in researching the ingredient labels on the supplements he was taking. He also stated that he took responsibility and has learned from the situation.[25] This in turn caused Katsantonis to be deferred to the 2020 CFL Draft class and serve as a one-year suspension from the professional ranks.

Katsantonis still continued to stay around football earning himself an invite to an XFL tryout in Los Angeles during the summer of 2019. From there Katsantonis had moved back to his hometown of Bakersfield, California, where he volunteered his time coaching at a local high school Bakersfield Christian head coached by Darren Carr (brother of former number 1 overall pick David Carr and Las Vegas Raiders Quarterback Derek Carr. Katsantonis would serve as a defensive assistant and spot games from the booth which would help lead to a California Division 3 State title for the Bakersfield Christian Eagles.[25]

Katsantonis would again garner more attention on national level when he received an invite to participate in the 2020 College Gridiron Showcase[26] in Fort Worth, Texas.[27] This gave Katsantonis the opportunity to perform and prove to NFL and CFL scouts that the year off football hadn't regressed his game.

Leading up to the 2020 CFL Draft, Katsantonis had received an invite to a CFL regional combine, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic all the combines were canceled by the CFL. He was still considered to be a top prospect prior the 2020 CFL Draft and was considered a 3rd-4th round pick.[28]

• UBC Thunderbirds bio