IU basketball continues to roll out official announcements of their 2026 transfer portal class as the players sign.
On Tuesday morning the program confirmed the addition of 7-foot-2 Turkish center Samet Yiğitoğlu, who took an official visit to Bloomington last week.
Yiğitoğlu played the last two seasons at SMU. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
Here’s the full release on Yiğitoğlu from IU Athletics:
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Samet Yiğitoğlu Signs with Indiana Men’s Basketball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana head men’s basketball coach Darian DeVries announced the addition of rising junior center Samet Yiğitoğlu (SUH-met YEE-geh-toe-lu) to the basketball program on Tuesday. Yiğitoğlu, a former Turkish first division player, joined Indiana after two seasons at SMU.
Yiğitoğlu started all 66 career games for the Mustangs and produced 684 points, 466 rebounds, and 76 blocks. He shot 58.3% from the floor during his first two collegiate seasons and averaged 10.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 26.7 minutes per game. He collected 10 career double-doubles and helped SMU to a pair of postseason appearances.
He posted averaged 10.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.3 blocks in 28.8 minutes per game across 34 starts. Yiğitoğlu shot 62.8% (155-of-247) from the floor and was one of four high-major players to compile at least 10.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.0 blocked shot, and shoot 60.0% or better from the floor. He ranked top 50 among high-major players in rebounds (25th), double-doubles (37th), and blocked shots (43rd) per game. He scored in double figures on 24 occasions, pulled down eight or more rebounds in 19 contests, collected 31 games with multiple offensive rebounds, and swatted multiple shots in 14 outings.
Yiğitoğlu started all 32 games played in his debut season for SMU. He averaged 10.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.0 block per game in 24.4 minutes per game. He shot 53.5% (123-of-230) from the floor. He posted averages of 15.6 points and 13.0 rebounds per 40 minutes. Yiğitoğlu scored in double figures on 20 occasions, collected 22 games with multiple offensive rebounds, and blocked multiple shots in eight outings.
Prior to the start of his collegiate career, he averaged 13.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.0 blocks and shot 82.6% from the floor in four games with Sigortam Istanbul, a team that finished 28-6 in the Turkish second league, during the 2023-24 season. He posted 12.7 points and 8.6 rebounds on 66.0% shooting from the floor for Turkey in the 2023 FIBA U20 European Championship. Yiğitoğlu played three seasons for Besiktas S.J. of Turkey’s first division. He averaged 3.1 points and 2.1 rebounds in 2023-24, 2.3 points and 2.6 rebounds in 2022-23, and 1.6 points and 2.4 rebounds in 2021-22. He was selected to play for Next Generation Team Belgrade and U18 Next Generation Select in 2021-22.
🎥 Roll the highlights.@sametyigitogluu | #IUBB pic.twitter.com/2PTnAm3Gql
— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) April 28, 2026
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