Indiana University Athletics
Inside Force -- Yigitoglu Brings Big Size, Big Smile, Big Game
8/13/2026 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Team Canada swarms. Samet Yigitoglu battles. They swarm again. Yigitoglu battles more. Indiana's new 7-foot-2 center finally breaks free and does what you'd expect someone his size should do under the basket:
He dunks.
Then, as he runs down Branch McCracken Court at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, he does what you might not expect:
He smiles.
Frowns don't suit Yigitoglu, who treats basketball as a game and not a chore, who views it as fun and not work, who smiles as often as most people breathe.
"It comes from my teammates," he says. "Everybody is happy. Everybody is cheering for each other. It's picking me up."
Fun comes with seriousness. During one practice at Cook Hall, physicality leaves Yigitoglu with a bloody forehead. A few minutes with the trainer and he's back as if nothing has happened.
How could this translate to the upcoming season? Consider mid-July's 98-64 exhibition victory over Team Canada. Yigitoglu totaled six points, five rebounds, and a block in 22 minutes.
The Turkey native didn't play in the FISU American Games in Peru – the team went 4-0 and won a gold medal -- because he was ineligible as a non-American-born player. He did travel with the team.
Yigitoglu projects as the inside force the Hoosiers lacked last season. At SMU last season, he averaged 10.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks while shooting 62.8% from the field. He had seven double-doubles and led the ACC with 3.6 offensive rebounds a game.
"He's a big guy who isn't afraid of knowing that he's big," IU coach Darian DeVries says. "He's a big guy who loves it. He loves bringing that physicality, loves being in the interior, rebounding, setting screens, all that stuff."
Yigitoglu credits his SMU experience while looking forward to what's next as a Hoosier.
"SMU taught me a lot of things about college basketball. It was a good two years there, but I wanted something more. If you want to be good, if you want to get to another level, you have to change things up. Indiana was like that for me."
The Hoosiers spent June and July learning DeVries's system -- honed by the Peru opportunity – to prepare for the upcoming season.
"The coaches explained how they want to run their offense and defense, and I try to get used to it." Yigitoglu says.
That includes perimeter work. Although Yigitoglu has taken 3-point shots in practice, that hasn't been a strength. He attempted six at SMU, making one.
"Here, I get outside so I can pass it," he says. He averaged 1.3 assists at SMU, an average that should rise as a Hoosier. "I feel comfortable out there.
"I love shooting, but if someone is open, I don't want to be just shooting. I want to give someone else a chance."
Thanks to Yigitoglu, 6-foot-11 forward Aiden Sherrell, a heralded transfer from Alabama, won't have the major center role he had as a Crimson Tide. The two are expected to be starting lineup fixtures.
"Playing next to Samet is exciting," Sherrell says. "He's a great teammate, a great player. He helps out so much. Just playing with someone like him alongside me, it's super fun to play that way."
Yigitoglu can't wait for the fun to start.
"Playing with him has been great. He's so easy to play with. Teams are confused with him because he can roll or do the pop. He's good at both.
"In practices, coaches are always trying to put me with Aiden so we can play two bigs on the floor. He's chilling it, shooting it. I'm just trying to play for others, get my own stuff in the paint."
Yigitoglu and Sherrell will play major roles as DeVries seeks to showcase offensive rebounding dominance.
"We've talked to our team all summer long that we want to be an elite offensive rebounding team, and then defensive rebounding, as well," DeVries says. "We've got to secure the defensive glass.
"I haven't had a lot of teams where we prioritized offensive rebounding. That's something that we're putting a lot of time and effort into with this group, because I think they could be a really good offensive rebounding team. We have enough bodies, size, athleticism and length to do that. We're going to get it there."
DeVries says he saw it in the second half of the exhibition game.
"They did a much better job. We were chasing balls down and that was good to see.
"With Aiden and Samet out there, there are different things we can try to focus on where maybe we didn't have those types of rosters in previous years."
Yigitoglu generated major recruiting interest upon entering the transfer portal last spring, getting so many phone calls that it became "annoying."
What made IU stand out?
"Indiana is a great program with a great history," Yigitoglu says. "They have a winning culture. Everyone wants to win. They want to go far in March Madness. They want to win a Big Ten championship. They want big things.
"They have a history of everyone wanting to go there. Everyone wants to play for them and play on a big stage. That made me come here and choose Indiana. That's what separated them from the others."
DeVries's offensive and defensive approaches also were draws.
"They were so patient in explaining things to me, what they want to do next year, how they want to develop me and get me better for the next level, which is the NBA," Yigitoglu says.
Leaving Turkey for the United States wasn't easy.
"It was a whole new story," Yigitoglu says. "You have to fly 12 hours to get here. I didn't know what I would see. I came here by myself. It was difficult to adjust."
Yigitoglu says he'd spent his last two years in Istanbul. SMU, located in University Park, Texas, was nothing like that.
"It was so different because Istanbul is so compact. When I landed, I saw the (oil well) drills. Like they say, everything is big in Texas. Everything was so big. I couldn't get used to it for the first couple of months. Then it got easy."
Acclimation included a trip to Six Flags Over Texas, an amusement park that features plenty of roller coasters, none of which Yigitoglu rode.
"I would never try that," he says with a smile.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Team Canada swarms. Samet Yigitoglu battles. They swarm again. Yigitoglu battles more. Indiana's new 7-foot-2 center finally breaks free and does what you'd expect someone his size should do under the basket:
He dunks.
Then, as he runs down Branch McCracken Court at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, he does what you might not expect:
He smiles.
Frowns don't suit Yigitoglu, who treats basketball as a game and not a chore, who views it as fun and not work, who smiles as often as most people breathe.
"It comes from my teammates," he says. "Everybody is happy. Everybody is cheering for each other. It's picking me up."
Fun comes with seriousness. During one practice at Cook Hall, physicality leaves Yigitoglu with a bloody forehead. A few minutes with the trainer and he's back as if nothing has happened.
How could this translate to the upcoming season? Consider mid-July's 98-64 exhibition victory over Team Canada. Yigitoglu totaled six points, five rebounds, and a block in 22 minutes.
The Turkey native didn't play in the FISU American Games in Peru – the team went 4-0 and won a gold medal -- because he was ineligible as a non-American-born player. He did travel with the team.
Yigitoglu projects as the inside force the Hoosiers lacked last season. At SMU last season, he averaged 10.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks while shooting 62.8% from the field. He had seven double-doubles and led the ACC with 3.6 offensive rebounds a game.
"He's a big guy who isn't afraid of knowing that he's big," IU coach Darian DeVries says. "He's a big guy who loves it. He loves bringing that physicality, loves being in the interior, rebounding, setting screens, all that stuff."
Yigitoglu credits his SMU experience while looking forward to what's next as a Hoosier.
"SMU taught me a lot of things about college basketball. It was a good two years there, but I wanted something more. If you want to be good, if you want to get to another level, you have to change things up. Indiana was like that for me."
The Hoosiers spent June and July learning DeVries's system -- honed by the Peru opportunity – to prepare for the upcoming season.
"The coaches explained how they want to run their offense and defense, and I try to get used to it." Yigitoglu says.
That includes perimeter work. Although Yigitoglu has taken 3-point shots in practice, that hasn't been a strength. He attempted six at SMU, making one.
"Here, I get outside so I can pass it," he says. He averaged 1.3 assists at SMU, an average that should rise as a Hoosier. "I feel comfortable out there.
"I love shooting, but if someone is open, I don't want to be just shooting. I want to give someone else a chance."
Thanks to Yigitoglu, 6-foot-11 forward Aiden Sherrell, a heralded transfer from Alabama, won't have the major center role he had as a Crimson Tide. The two are expected to be starting lineup fixtures.
"Playing next to Samet is exciting," Sherrell says. "He's a great teammate, a great player. He helps out so much. Just playing with someone like him alongside me, it's super fun to play that way."
Yigitoglu can't wait for the fun to start.
"Playing with him has been great. He's so easy to play with. Teams are confused with him because he can roll or do the pop. He's good at both.
"In practices, coaches are always trying to put me with Aiden so we can play two bigs on the floor. He's chilling it, shooting it. I'm just trying to play for others, get my own stuff in the paint."
Yigitoglu and Sherrell will play major roles as DeVries seeks to showcase offensive rebounding dominance.
"We've talked to our team all summer long that we want to be an elite offensive rebounding team, and then defensive rebounding, as well," DeVries says. "We've got to secure the defensive glass.
"I haven't had a lot of teams where we prioritized offensive rebounding. That's something that we're putting a lot of time and effort into with this group, because I think they could be a really good offensive rebounding team. We have enough bodies, size, athleticism and length to do that. We're going to get it there."
DeVries says he saw it in the second half of the exhibition game.
"They did a much better job. We were chasing balls down and that was good to see.
"With Aiden and Samet out there, there are different things we can try to focus on where maybe we didn't have those types of rosters in previous years."
Yigitoglu generated major recruiting interest upon entering the transfer portal last spring, getting so many phone calls that it became "annoying."
What made IU stand out?
"Indiana is a great program with a great history," Yigitoglu says. "They have a winning culture. Everyone wants to win. They want to go far in March Madness. They want to win a Big Ten championship. They want big things.
"They have a history of everyone wanting to go there. Everyone wants to play for them and play on a big stage. That made me come here and choose Indiana. That's what separated them from the others."
DeVries's offensive and defensive approaches also were draws.
"They were so patient in explaining things to me, what they want to do next year, how they want to develop me and get me better for the next level, which is the NBA," Yigitoglu says.
Leaving Turkey for the United States wasn't easy.
"It was a whole new story," Yigitoglu says. "You have to fly 12 hours to get here. I didn't know what I would see. I came here by myself. It was difficult to adjust."
Yigitoglu says he'd spent his last two years in Istanbul. SMU, located in University Park, Texas, was nothing like that.
"It was so different because Istanbul is so compact. When I landed, I saw the (oil well) drills. Like they say, everything is big in Texas. Everything was so big. I couldn't get used to it for the first couple of months. Then it got easy."
Acclimation included a trip to Six Flags Over Texas, an amusement park that features plenty of roller coasters, none of which Yigitoglu rode.
"I would never try that," he says with a smile.
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