Mehmet Baturalp

Mehmet Baturalp — Biography

Mehmet Baturalp (September 15, 1936, Istanbul – November 9, 2017) was one of the most respected figures in Turkish basketball, both as a national-team player and later as a coach. He took up the sport at Darüşşafaka High School and moved to Fenerbahçe in 1954 at just 18, wearing the yellow-and-navy jersey until 1967 and collecting numerous Turkish, Istanbul and Federation Cup titles along the way. Capped 71 times for the senior national team, he played at the 1957, 1959 and 1963 European Basketball Championships before closing out his playing career in 1968, the night Fenerbahçe beat French side Asvel in the European Cup Winners' Cup.

Baturalp began coaching as a player-coach at Fenerbahçe in the 1965-66 season, then led İTÜ to Turkish league titles in 1968 and 1970, coached Fenerbahçe between 1969 and 1972 and again from 1979 to 1982, and guided Eczacıbaşı to an unexpected championship in 1987-88 by pairing young talents such as Tamer Oyguç and Orhun Ene with American import Larry Richard, a squad nicknamed "Baturalp's chicks." As national team coach in 1971, 1973 and 1975, he steered Turkey to an eighth-place finish at the 1973 European Championship, the country's best result in 46 years.

After retiring from active coaching, Baturalp worked as a basketball commentator and remained a member of Fenerbahçe Sports Club's high council. He died in Istanbul on November 9, 2017, and was laid to rest at Karacaahmet Cemetery.