Craig Smith added another name to this year’s Utah recruiting class on Tuesday, as Turkish forward Karahan Efeoglu announced his commitment to the Utes program on social media.
With Efeoglu’s commitment, the Utes have filled their full allotment of scholarships for the first time under Smith, who’s heading into his third season at Utah.
That commitment caught the attention of former Utah Jazz center Mehmet Okur, who also hails from Turkey. Okur responded to Efeoglu’s Instagram post, saying, “Utah ⭐️.”
Efeoglu is a 6-foot-8 power forward who played for the Anadolu Efes Under-19 team last season. He averaged 15.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game in 30.0 minutes per contest, according to Eurobasket.com.
He most recently played in the U19 World Cup, averaging 11.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game while shooting 47.1% from the field and 44% from 3-point range for Turkey.
Efeoglu’s best performance at the World Cup came in a quarterfinal win over Canada, when he scored 27 points and added six rebounds, one assist and a blocked shot. He made 11 of 16 shots from the field, including 6 of 8 from 3-point range, in a win that helped Turkey finish third in the tournament.
Efeoglu is the sixth member of Utah’s 2023 recruiting class.
He joins former Salt Lake Community College guard Hunter Erickson and former Timpview High power forward Jake Wahlin, along with a trio of Division I transfers — point guard Deivon Smith (most recently at Georgia Tech), small forward Cole Bajema (Washington) and center Lawson Lovering (Colorado).