City of Basketball Love

Austin Petolillo (@AustinPSports) &
Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The switch from living in central Wyoming to Philadelphia is like living in two different worlds. But that’s a switch that Alihan Demir had already made before.

Demir went through that transition this offseason, when he transferred to Drexel from Central Wyoming college, a junior college located in Riverton, Wyoming, a town of 10,000.

Demir said being in Wyoming helped him focus on basketball and his studies but he could not be more thankful to arrive in Philadelphia and get out of the Cowboy State.

“I really like Philadelphia, there’s so much to do, especially compared to Wyoming,” Demir said. “[It was the] middle of nowhere.”

A native of Turkey’s capital city, Ankara, a city of five million, Demir is used to living in a major city such as Philadelphia.

Demir stands at 6-foot-8 but in typical Euro tradition, he was trained to play a much more versatile game.

“They try to make taller players play point guard,” Demir said. “Like Hedo Turkoglu, that’s what they did with him, and that’s what they did with me, too.”

Like all ballplayers from his home country, Demir looks up to Turkoglu, a 15-year NBA veteran who won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award in 2008.

Turkoglu is now involved in the Turkish government, but he still finds time to hoop. Demir knows from personal experience -- he got a chance to play against his idol in a 4-on-4 pickup game a few years ago.

“It was quite the experience, even in that game,” Demir said. “I think I learned a lot from him.”

Demir attended Ari College in Ankara for high school, but came over to the United States to do a prep year at West Oaks academy in Orlando, Florida before heading out west to Central Wyoming College where he played one season.

In his one season at Central Wyoming, Demir averaged 13.6 ppg and 7.3 rpg while shooting 54 percent from the field.

When he transferred over to Drexel, Demir wasn’t expected to take on the minutes he has seen in the team’s previous four games.

He’s had to step into playing a large role immediately for a Drexel team that currently has four players sidelined by injury.

After not playing in his team’s’ first five games due to playing in an unsanctioned summer league, Demir saw his first Division I action against NJIT on Nov. 25, when he scored five points and grabbed eight rebounds while playing 34 minutes.

Ever since the NJIT game, Demir has played in every game for the Dragons, playing over 25 minutes in each and playing over 30 minutes in all but one.

“I could kind of see from the practices that I would get playing time but I wasn’t expecting this much,” Demir said. “But I’m here, I’m ready to play, I’m trying to give my best.”

In Drexel’s game against La Salle on Thursday night, Demir earned his first Division I start, chipping in five points, five assists and three rebounds on 34 minutes in the Dragons’ 72-70 win against the Explorers.

Through four games, he’s averaging 7.5 ppg and 5.0 rpg, hitting 10-of-22 (45.5 percent) from the floor and 3-of-8 from 3-point range so far.

“I think he adds another element to us,” Drexel head coach Zach Spiker said. “Offensively, he’s got a great IQ and feel.”

“We’ve had three backdoor, maybe four backdoor layups, uncontested shots, in the last two games,” Spiker added. “We didn’t have that many all last year.”

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