Ömer Faruk Yurtseven (born June 19, 1998) is a Turkish professional

basketball 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 ...

player for the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the NC State Wolfpack and the

Georgetown Hoyas The Georgetown Hoyas are the collegiate athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C. Georgetown's athletics department fields 23 men's and women's varsity level teams and competes at the National ...

. Listed at and , he plays the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

position.

Early life and career

He was born in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

, Uzbekistan to Turkish parents and played basketball in Turkey and for the Turkish youth national team. Yurtseven was selected to the Best Five of the

2014 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 2014 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship was the 28th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, European Under-16 Basketball Championship. 16 teams participated in the competition, held in the four Latvian cities of Ogre, Latvia, Ogre, Gr ...

. He was also invited to play at the

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school All-Star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys in the senior class including alumns like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Bl ...

International Game. On March 20, 2015, he made his EuroLeague debut, in a game against

Emporio Armani Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

, scoring 2 points, in 1 minute and 4 seconds of playing time. On October 5, 2015, he played against the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The ...

, at the Barclays Center, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. He had 8 points and 7 rebounds, with one block, in 15 minutes and 18 seconds of playing time, in his team's win over the Nets. He would become the youngest player in history at the time to play in an NBA preseason game, at 17 years old. During an Under-18 youth age competition in Turkey, Yurtseven recorded a double-double, of 91 points (scoring more points than his entire competition), making 34 out of 49 shots (including five three-pointers), and grabbing 28 rebounds, in a 115–82 win over the youth club of Eylul Basketbol Ihtisas. On February 15, 2016, he left Fenerbahçe, in order to play

, stating that he needed more playing time than he was receiving with Fenerbahçe.

College career

On May 16, 2016 it was announced that Yurtseven would be playing

at North Carolina State University. However, due to his previous exposure with playing for Fenerbahçe, in some

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

games, the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

decided to suspend him for the first nine games of their season (around 30% of the schedule), as well as require him to donate $1,000 to a charity of his choosing, in exchange for him to be fully eligible for playing time moving forward. After fulfilling his suspension, he returned to the court on December 15, in a win against Appalachian State University. On March 14, 2017, Yurtseven would test out his stock for the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

, leaving open the possibility that he would return to North Carolina State for his sophomore season. After trying out for the 2017

NBA Draft Combine The NBA Draft Combine is a multi-day showcase that takes place every May before the annual June NBA draft. At the combine, college basketball players are measured and take medical tests, are interviewed, perform various athletic tests and shootin ...

, his father announced he'd be going back to North Carolina State for his sophomore year. During his sophomore year he would improve his points per game average from 5.9 to 13.5. This significant increase gained him All-

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

Third Team honors. On March 21, 2018, Yurtseven would test out going pro once again for the 2018 NBA draft. However, even if he stayed in college, he confirmed that he would not return to North Carolina State and would instead request a transfer to a different university. On April 16, 2018, Yurtseven announced he would transfer to Georgetown. He became eligible to play for the Hoyas starting in the 2019–20 season and will have two years of eligibility remaining. Yurtseven had 20 points in his debut for Georgetown, an 81–68 win over Mount St. Mary's. He averaged 15.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game but missed seven games with an ankle injury. On April 28, 2020, he announced that he was entering the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

and was not returning to Georgetown.

Professional career

Oklahoma City Blue (2021)

After going undrafted in the

, Yurtseven signed an

Exhibit 10 The NBA salary cap is the limit to the total amount of money that National Basketball Association teams are allowed to pay their players. Like many professional sports leagues, the NBA has a salary cap to control costs and benefit parity, defined b ...

deal with the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

on December 8, 2020. He was waived next day. On January 28, 2021, Yurtseven was included in roster of the

Oklahoma City Blue The Oklahoma City Blue are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and are affiliated with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Blue play their home games at Paycom Center. The franchise began as ...

, the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

affiliate of the

Miami Heat (2021–present)

On May 14, 2021, Yurtseven signed with the

. On August 1, he joined the Heat for the NBA Summer League and five days later re-signed with the Heat. On December 26, Yurtseven made his first career start, putting up 16 points and 15 rebounds in a 93–83 win over the Orlando Magic.

National team career

Yurtseven was a member of the junior national teams of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. With Turkey's junior national teams, he played at the 2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, and at the

, where he was named to the All-Tournament Team. He also played at the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, where he won a silver medal, and at the

2016 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2016 FIBA U20 European Championship was the 19th edition of the FIBA U20 European Championship. The competition took place in Helsinki, Finland, from 16 to 24 July 2016. Participating teams * * * (Winners, 2015 FIBA Europe Under-20 Champi ...

, where he won a bronze medal, and was named to the All-Tournament Team. He finished his career with Turkey's junior national teams at the

2017 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2017 FIBA U20 European Championship was the 20th edition of the FIBA U20 European Championship. The competition took place in three Greek cities, Chania, Rethymno and Heraklion, on the island of Crete, from 15 to 23 July 2017. Venues Partic ...

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, 56 , , 12 , , 12.6 , , .526 , , .091 , , .623 , , 5.3 , , .9 , , .3 , , .4 , , 5.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 56 , , 12 , , 12.6 , , .526 , , .091 , , .623 , , 5.3 , , .9 , , .3 , , .4 , , 5.3

Playoffs

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, style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , 0 , , 4.2 , , .667 , , .000 , , .333 , , .8 , , .3 , , .0 , , .1 , , 2.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 9 , , 0 , , 4.2 , , .667 , , .000 , , .333 , , .8 , , .3 , , .0 , , .1 , , 2.8

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

, 22 , , 14 , , 18.9 , , .457 , , .333 , , .719 , , 4.4 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , .7 , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 22 , , 23.8 , , .572 , , .500 , , .613 , , 6.7 , , .5 , , .5 , , 1.8 , , 13.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Georgetown , style="text-align:center;" colspan="11",

Redshirt , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Georgetown , 26 , , 25 , , 27.3 , , .534 , , .214 , , .753 , , 9.8 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , 1.5 , , 15.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 81 , , 61 , , 23.6 , , .539 , , .426 , , .693 , , 7.1 , , .9 , , .4 , , 1.4 , , 12.1

Personal life

Yurtseven is interested in playing

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

and named

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...

his favorite chess player.

References

External links

NC State Wolfpack bio

Georgetown Hoyas bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yurtseven, Omer 1998 births Living people Centers (basketball) Fenerbahçe men's basketball players Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball players Miami Heat players National Basketball Association players from Turkey NC State Wolfpack men's basketball players Oklahoma City Blue players Sportspeople from Tashkent Turkish expatriate basketball people in the United States Turkish men's basketball players Undrafted National Basketball Association players