Samet Yigitoglu Presented Why Indiana Grabbed Him in The Portal

When Indiana basketball head coach Darian DeVries looked for players in the transfer portal this past offseason, he knew that he needed to find some legitimate size in order to compete more in the Big Ten Conference. Devries found two seven-footers, one of which was Samet Yigitoglu, the 7’2″, 270-pound big man from SMU.

Yigitoglu has been a career 10-point-per-game guy in his two seasons at SMU, but entering today’s game against Tennessee Tech, he had yet to impose his will on a game in his three games for Indiana this year. That changed today as Yigitoglu had 18 points on 9-for-10 shooting, six rebounds and an assist in Indiana’s 90-66 victory over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles.

Yigitoglu got it started immediately for IU as he made three paint baskets in each of Indiana’s first three possessions.

“Early in the game we wanted to get it inside,” DeVries said postgame. “They didn’t double… then we ran a couple more things to get him open”.

Then on the fourth possession, Indiana went back to Yigitoglu, but he was slashed in the face, giving him an eye poke and a nasty cut. Yigitoglu wouldn’t check back in the game till 7:10 left in the first half.

“When I was in the locker room, I was like, ‘I’m going to come back’, I’m not going to quit the game, so I was ready to go back,” Yigitoglu said postgame.

Indiana had a clear size advantage over the Golden Eagles, as the tallest player for Tennessee Tech was Da’vante Green at 6’9″. Due to this advantage, it was clear from the beginning that the game plan was to feed the big men down low.

The difference in production today between Yigitoglu and the other Indiana big men, though, was prevalent. Aiden Sherrell had 11 points, but on 2-for-7 from the field. Backup big man Sam Alexis had only five points.

It wasn’t easy for all of Indiana’s bigs, but Yigitoglu at many spots throughout this game made it look easy. The only shot he missed all game was when his eye was gashed, and that probably should have been called a foul.

Yigitoglu was simply a consistent offensive force throughout his 17 minutes of playing time. Indiana won those minutes by 20 points, and his value shows. Even when he isn’t scoring, Yigitoglu is affecting the game offensively. He draws fouls, and he draws the eyes of defenders towards himself.

“He opened up the floor a lot more for us,” DeVries said. “He gave us driving lanes. And then we were still able to throw it inside and get advantages that way”.

His size is what DeVries liked about him when finding him in the portal, and that was fully on display during this game. He just has a unique game-wrecking size that makes it so that when he is on the court, you cannot ignore him.

Yigitoglu was quiet in his first three games as a Hoosier, but in this game, his size was on full display. He was a dominant force on defense, altering shots, and offensively he was aggressive and efficient. His screens were hard, his post-ups worked, and ultimately, Yigitoglu showed why Indiana was aggressive in finding him in the portal.