NC State signee Omer Yurtseven shouldn’t be all that phased by what he faces next year in college basketball, considering whom he has already been matched up against.
Yurtseven has played versus three-time All-NBA defensive team member Serge Ibaka, a 6-10 and 245-pound power forward/center for the Oklahoma City Thunder. That matchup took place last Oct. 9 in an NBA preseason game. The 17-year-old Yurtseven and Fenerbahce Ulker from Istanbul, Turkey, first played against the Brooklyn Nets on Oct. 5 and then the Thunder.
The 7-0, 240-pound Yurtseven had eight points (on 3-of-4 shooting), seven rebounds and a block in 15 minutes of action during a 101-96 win over the Nets. He followed up with four points and five rebounds in 12 minutes in a 111-81 loss to Ibaka and the Thunder.
“Both were extremely tough games,” Yurtseven said. “I was really excited and I had a hard time, especially guarding Serge Ibaka. But it was amazing to play against them, and it made me respect them and what they do much more.
“I can’t describe how fun it was.”
Yurtseven appeared in eight games and averaged 1.6 points per contest overall for Fenerbahce Ulker.
His past success on the big stage should aid his freshman year at NC State. His addition gives the Wolfpack a pair of projected lottery picks in the 2017 NBA Draft. DraftExpress.com has rising redshirt freshman point guard Dennis Smith slotted sixth in the draft, and Yurtseven is at No. 14. Only NC State, Duke and Kentucky have multiple projected lottery picks for next year.
Rivals.com currently has the native of Turkey listed as a four-star prospect, with the potential of getting bumped up to five stars in the near future. Yurtseven’s arrival essentially gives NC State four projected starters who were top-45 recruits.
The Wolfpack began recruiting Yurtseven in earnest in mid-February, and head coach Mark Gottfried and assistant coach Orlando Early took a trip to Istanbul to meet with him in March. Yurtseven officially visited NC State on May 5-6, and he had also checked out Syracuse and Utah.
“I think [NC State] is the perfect fit for me, both education and otherwise,” Yurtseven said. “The campus is really nice.”
He was able to play some pickup basketball with a few of the returning Wolfpack players, including the aforementioned Smith, a former five-star prospect from Fayetteville (N.C.) Trinity Christian. Smith was recently cleared to play after rehabbing his torn ACL this past winter.
“Playing pickup with Dennis was fun,” Yurtseven said. “I think we understand each other. I am extremely excited to be a part of the Wolfpack. I will be able to showcase myself and be the focal point of the team.”
Yurtseven will likely receive tons of national hype going into next season, but he also knows he has to “earn it.” Gottfried will have the fun task of incorporating his inside talents with Smith, fifth-year senior shooting guard Terry Henderson, sophomore small forward Maverick Rowan and redshirt sophomore guard Torin Dorn on the perimeter.
NC State will find out by May 25 what the pro basketball future is for rising junior power forward Abdul-Malik Abu and rising senior center BeeJay Anya.
“He [Gottfried] didn’t promise me anything, but he told me that I can be the focal point,” Yurtseven said. “He said that he doesn’t guarantee and that it depends on the work that I put in.”
Turkey has done a terrific job of producing NBA-caliber players of late. Hedo Turkoglu was the first NBA player, playing from 1996-2015. Mehmet Okur followed from 1997-2013 and featured an impressive inside-outside game before an Achilles’ tendon injury slowed his career in 2010.
Other current NBA players from Turkey include Omer Asik of the New Orleans Pelicans, Enes Kanter of Oklahoma City Thunder and Ersan Ilyasova of the Orlando Magic.
Cedi Osman was drafted No. 31 overall last June, and his rights were traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Small forward Furkan Korkmaz is projected as the No. 21 overall pick in June by DraftExpress.com.
However, another product of Turkey contributed to NC State’s program in the past — point guard Engin Atsur, who played for the Wolfpack from 2003-07.
“I called him and asked about school’s education and he shared with me,” Yurtseven said. “[It] was very useful.”
Ironically, it’s a product of the Virgin Islands that Yurtseven ultimately idolizes.
“I don’t have an idol from Turkey, but I always followed Tim Duncan,” Yurtseven said of the San Antonio Spurs great, who also played on Tobacco Road at Wake Forest.
NC State also added power forward Darius Hicks from Quitman, Miss., who signed last Friday, and still have three scholarships available in the class of 2016.
