Yalçın Granit (17 September 1932 – 1 November 2020) was a Turkish

basketball player Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and

sports journalist Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

Biography

He was born in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

on 17 September 1932. Yalçın Granit, whose father died when he was a child, entered

Darüşşafaka High School Darüşşafaka High School is a school in Maslak Maslak is one of the main business districts of Sarıyer, Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European side of the city. It was formerly an exclave of the municipality of Şişli, though being ...

, an institution for orphans only, in the sixth grade. He played football in the school team, though he was directed to playing basketball. At the age 17, he finished high school, and was transferred by

Galatasaray Basketball Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

through its club president

Ali Sami Yen Ali Sami Yen, born Ali Sami Frashëri (20 May 1886 – 29 July 1951) was an Albanian-Turkish sports official best known as the founder of the Galatasaray Sports Club. After the enactment of law on family names in 1934, he took the surname Yen, ...

. At the Galatasaray team, which was nicknamed "The invincible Armada" ( tr, Yenilmez Armada), he played many years and served also as their captain. Following his graduation from

Istanbul University , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...

's Faculty of Natural Sciences as a

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

, he went to France to pursue his doctoral studies. Granit joined the then world's-second-ranking team Racing Club Paris (now defunct after the merging of Paris Racing Basket with another club to form

Paris-Levallois Basket Metropolitans 92 is a French professional basketball club that is based in Levallois-Perret, in the Paris metropolitan area. The club currently plays in the LNB Pro A, the highest-tier level in French basketball. The club was established in 200 ...

in 2007) where he played briefly in the 1955–56 season, and was the first Turkish basketballer to play in a European team. The same year as he began to play for the Galatasaray team, he was admitted to the

Turkey national basketball team The Turkey men's national basketball team ( tr, Türkiye Millî Basketbol Takımı) represents Turkey in international basketball tournaments. They are governed by the Turkish Basketball Federation. Their nickname is the ''12 Dev Adam'', meanin ...

. He participated at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland and at

FIBA EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

tournaments in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

and

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

. He served for a long time as the national team's captain, and capped 68 times in total. During all time at Galatasaray and the Turkish national team, he became the top scorer. In 1958 at the age of 26, Granit became the coach of his high school team

Darüşşafaka S.K. Darüşşafaka, meaning "home of compassion" in Ottoman Turkish, may refer to: * Darüşşafaka Society, a Turkish educational association founded to train apprentices ** Darüşşafaka High School, a school in Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey * Darü� ...

, and led them in the 1959–60 to the championship title in the

Istanbul Basketball League The Istanbul Basketball League ( Turkish: ''İstanbul Basketbol Ligi'') was a regional basketball league competition in Turkey, that was run by the Turkish Basketball Federation from 1926 to 1966. The league lost its first level status after the na ...

, their first and the only ever accomplishment. The team became runner-up in the

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

the same season. In the 1960–61 season, Darüşşafaka became Turkish champion with Granit as the head coach. He served also as the coach of the national team, and was named the "Most Successful Coach". In 1971, he was appointed by

Şakir Eczacıbaşı Şakir Eczacıbaşı, (3 December 1929 - 24 January 2010), a second generation member of the notable Turkish Eczacıbaşı family, was a pharmacist, photographer and businessman. He was awarded with the Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des L ...

technical director of the then-newly established basketball team

Eczacıbaşı Eczacıbaşı Holding is a Turkish industrial group of companies founded in 1942. The group with 44 companies has 11,400 employees and a combined net turnover of TL 11.1 billion in 2020. Group Eczacıbaşı's core sectors are building products, ...

, and contributed to their first-place finishing in the Turkish Basketball First League's Istanbul Division in three consecutive years. Granit presided over the basketball branch of the Galatasaray S.K. in 2002. He was a sports journalist at the daily newspapers ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. , it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook. ''Hürriyet ...

'' (2003–2012) and ''

Habertürk ''Habertürk'' (literally: "News Turkish"), abbreviated as ''HT'', was a high-circulation Turkish newspaper. It was established on March 1, 2009 by Ciner Media Group, drawing on the brand of Ciner's Habertürk TV. It ceased publication on 5 Jul ...

'' (2010). He is known for his contribution to the establishment of the basketball branch at Darüşşafaka in 1951, and his continuous efforts in their development. Granit died on 1 November 2020. On 3 November, after funeral services at

Darüşşafaka Ayhan Şahenk Sports Hall Darüşşafaka Ayhan Şahenk Sports Hall (Turkish language, Turkish: Darüşşafaka Ayhan Şahenk Spor Salonu) is a multi-purpose indoor arena that is located in Istanbul, Turkey. The arena is mostly used to host basketball games, but can also be ...

and

Türk Telekom Stadium Nef Stadium (officially known as the Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi – Nef Stadyumu) is a association football, football stadium serving as the home ground of the Süper Lig club Galatasaray S.K. (football), Galatasaray It is located in the Seyran ...

and prayers at Zincirlikuyu Mosque, his body was buried in Kilyos Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Granit, Yalcin 1932 births 2020 deaths Basketball coaches of international teams Basketball players at the 1952 Summer Olympics Basketbol Süper Ligi head coaches Darüşşafaka Basketbol coaches Eczacıbaşı S.K. (men's basketball) coaches Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) coaches Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) players Habertürk people Hürriyet people İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi B.K. coaches Olympic basketball players for Turkey Paris Racing Basket players Basketball players from Istanbul Turkey men's national basketball team coaches Turkish basketball coaches Turkish expatriate basketball people in France Turkish geologists Turkish men's basketball players Turkish sports journalists