WCU Men's Basketball Announces Signing of Hakan Demirel for the 2004-05 Season

12 December 2004

WCU Men's Basketball Announces Signing of Hakan Demirel for the 2004-05 Season

A Native of Turkey, Demirel is One of the Top Guards in Europe

Western Carolina head basketball coach Steve Shurina announced today the signing of Hakan Demirel (HA-kahn Dem-EE-rell) for this season. The native of Bursa, Turkey, was playing for the Turkish Men's National Team this fall and will be joining the team as early as this January.

Demirel (6-3, 190, guard) was a member of the Turkish Men's National team, which went 6-0 in the Euro Cup 2005 qualification tournament. Demirel also played on the Turkish 18-and-Under National Team. He led his team to the European Championship, falling to host team Spain in the final. Demirel was selected to the All-Star team for the tournament, leading his team with 15.5 ppg and adding 4.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 3.3 steals per contest. Among the players competing the European 18-and-Under Championship, his scoring ranked 19th, his .449 field goal percentage ranked 20th, his assists ranked fifth and his steals ranked second.

"Hakan is the highest profile player we have ever signed in terms of the level of recruitment from other major schools and his level of play versus very talented players in Europe," Shurina said. "Most of the NBA people I have spoken with already have Hakan on their radar screens.

"Hakan's performance at the European Championships was nothing short of spectacular, especially considering the competition. He was arguably the best player in the tournament. He possesses the whole package. He has great quickness and speed, he can handle the ball well and he can pass the ball well. He can also score from 3-point range as well as attack the basket."

Demirel attended Ozel Namik Sozeri High School in Turkey, but the institution does not have a basketball team.

NBADraft.net also put Demirel on its European 18-and-Under All-Tournament team saying, "(Hakan is an) eccentric person who played with shoes and socks of different colors. But he's the real Turkish point. (He is) left-handed, his ups and downs influenced the team, but he drives great. He runs the fastbreak wonderfully and can shoot over every opponent (35% in threes). (He is) already a better player than other Turkish playmakers, like Kerem Tunceri however, still a bit inconsistent. Turkish (Men's National Team) Coach Bogdan Tanjevic trusts him a lot."

Demirel was also chosen to participate in the Basketball without Borders, a three-day instructional basketball camp that brought together 15-17 year olds from 26 countries across Europe and sponsored by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Federation Internationale de Basketball (FIBA). FIBA selected the young players based on their basketball skills, leadership abilities and dedication to the sport of basketball. Demirel was one of 50 players in Europe selected to attend the camp and just one of two players from Turkey.

The Western Carolina men's basketball team will start practice Saturday (Oct. 16). The Catamounts will host Erskine on Wednesday (Nov. 10) at 7 pm for an exhibition game, before heading to Marquette to play in the three-day Black Coaches Association Classic Nov. 14-16. Western will stay on the road to play at Alabama (Nov. 19) and at South Carolina (Nov. 21). The Catamounts will then play five of their next six games at home, starting with Emmanuel on Nov. 23 at 7 pm.

Source: CSTV's College Sports