Cenk Akyol

Cenk Akyol — Biography

Cenk Akyol was born into a volleyball-playing family in Istanbul's Kadıköy district on 16 April 1987, and turned to basketball early, joining Efes Pilsen's junior ranks at age eight. He began his professional career in late 2003, a 1.98-meter shooting guard who also played small forward. In summer 2005 he was chosen in the second round of the NBA Draft, taken by the Atlanta Hawks, though he chose to keep playing in Europe. After two league titles with Efes Pilsen, he spent a season on loan at Galatasaray, played for Scandone Avellino in Italy, then moved between Anadolu Efes and a return to Galatasaray, winning the domestic title there in 2012-13. A post-match interview after that title also drew attention for his stance on a social issue of the day. He closed out his playing days at Anadolu Efes and Beşiktaş, retiring in 2020, then turned to coaching, working as an assistant at several clubs before joining Beşiktaş's technical staff on a multi-year deal in May 2026. He represented the national team at tournaments in 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2014, and was part of the squad that took silver in 2010. He married volleyball player Naz Aydemir Akyol in 2013.