Erkan Veyseloğlu

Erkan Veyseloğlu — Biography

Erkan Veyseloğlu is a German-born basketball player, 2.00 m tall and a small forward, and one of the longest-serving players in Turkish basketball. He came through the Efes Pilsen youth system and played for Beşiktaş, Banvit and Pınar Karşıyaka among others in a career of more than twenty years; at 41 he was still playing long minutes.

He started in Efes Pilsen's youth system in 1994, won the national youth title with the junior side and was named best forward. In 2000-01 he played in the first division with Antbirlik, then in the second division at Pertevniyal; he wore Fenerbahçe's shirt in 2002-04 and entered the 2005 NBA draft without being selected. On loan at Beşiktaş in 2004-05 he reached the final, which Efes Pilsen won 4-1. After Tuborg Pilsener he played for Beşiktaş again in 2006-08, then moved to Banvit and Erdemir; with Banvit he reached the Turkish Cup final in 2011-14. In 2015 he won his first Turkish league title with Pınar Karşıyaka.

He spent one season at Türk Telekom, returned to Beşiktaş Sompo Japan in 2016-19, joined Darüşşafaka in 2019 and Çağdaş Bodrumspor in 2021, and signed with Kapaklı Spor in 2024. He has played more than 200 times for Turkey's national teams at various levels, was in the EuroBasket 2017 squad and was on the team that took third place at the 2009 Mediterranean Games. He has said he could keep playing into his mid-forties as long as younger players do not push him out.