ISTANBUL (Türkiye) - Omer Kutluay and Darius Karutasu headline the 19-man preliminary roster that hosts Türkiye have announced ahead of the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2026.
The Real Madrid talent Kutluay is the son of former Turkish national team star Ibrahim Kutluay while Karutasu has already practiced with the pro team of Anadolu Efes Istanbul.
Head coach Hasan Ozmeric nominated the players as they prepare for the event in Istanbul from June 27 to July 5. Türkiye will be playing in Group C, where they will face New Zealand, Puerto Rico and Slovenia.
Türkiye’s preliminary roster
Players |
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Atahan Agacdelen | Sarp Kaya Arda | Ethem Aras Atli | Kaan Belgutay | Besir Briant |
Kemal Batu Copur | Omer Alp Elitas | Emir Karabulut | Darius Karutasu | Omer Kutluay |
Ruzgar Opcun | Arda Ozturk | Demir Ozturk | Mehmet Akif Ozturk | Kerem Sertakar |
Omer Yusuf Sik | Kartal Bora Simsek | Noyan Tolan | Emre Yazici |
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All 12 players from the Turkish team that played at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2025 were included in the 19-man player pool. Türkiye finished seventh at last summer's continental championship.
The largest contingent of players among the finalists come from Petkim Spor, which has four players. Karutasu and the brothers Arda and Demir Ozturk play for Efes while Fenerbahce Istanbul also have three players on the list.
Kutluay is expected to be one of the top leaders after playing his second U16 EuroBasket last summer. He led the team scoring with 24.1 points to go with 4.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists while Karutasu averaged 12.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists.
Türkiye are hosting the FIBA U17 World Cup for the second straight edition, and the country would love to at least match their third place finish from 2024. The country's other podium showing came in 2016 when they took second place.
FIBA