Murat Evliyaoğlu

Murat Evliyaoğlu — Biography

Murat Evliyaoğlu was born on 2 June 1969 in Ankara and is a retired Turkish national basketball player and sports commentator who stood 1.94 m tall and played as a guard.

He began his basketball career in the Turkish Basketball League with Gaziantep's Beslenspor in the 1987-88 season, staying until 1990 and winning the 1989 Directorate General of Youth and Sports Cup along the way. In 1990 he moved to Çukurova Sanayi, then went on to play for the Ankara clubs Kolej and PTT. In 1995 he joined Efes Pilsen, then a struggling side, and helped it win the Turkish league championship in both the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons, a run of success that earned him a place on the national team. With Efes Pilsen he also contributed to the 1995-96 Korać Cup win, the first European cup won by a Turkish basketball club; he is remembered for the free throw he converted at the end of the final against Stefanel Milano that secured the point average needed to take the title.

He later returned to Türk Telekom for the 1999-2000 and 2001-02 seasons and played for Fenerbahçe in 2000-01, reaching the Korać Cup quarterfinals with the club. After a 2002-03 season at Göztepe he retired from active basketball at 34 and went on to become a basketball commentator.