ISTANBUL, January 20, 2017 - Turkey haveannounced that current Besiktas Sompo Japan boss Ufuk Sarica will coachthe national team when it serves as one of the host nations for FIBA EuroBasket 2017.
The Turkish Basketball Federation (TBF) unveiled Sarica on Thursday at a newsconference in Istanbul.
Sarica, who has succeeded ErginAtaman at the helm, will concentrate on his duties with Besiktas for thetime being. The Istanbul club is just a game behind Fenerbahce andAnadolu Efes in the Turkish standings. Besiktas are also competing in the BasketballChampions League and havealready sealed a spot in the Play-Offs.
A former guard who worethe Turkey shirt at the EuroBaskets in 1997 and 1999, Sarica was a teammate ofTBF President Hedo Turkoglu at the second of those tournaments.
Turkoglu, one of the biggestbasketball stars in the history of the country, called Sarica "anunforgettable game player, personality and sportsman of our national team"at Thursday's news conference.
"I'm very proud and excitedabout this mission," Sarica said.
The cities of Helsinki, Tel Aviv,Cluj-Napoca and Istanbul will host Group Phase games at FIBA EuroBasket 2017while Istanbul will be the site for the knockout round. Expectations will behigh because led by Turkoglu, Turkey finished runners-up when Istanbul hostedEuroBasket 2001 and the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2010.
Sarica is aiming high at that tournamentand also wants Turkey to be a force at the FIBA BasketballWorld Cup 2019 in China andat the Olympics the following year in Japan.
"Having a medal at the FIBABasketball World Cup 2019 and being at the 2020 Olympic Games, which are allour dreams, are our biggest goals," he said.
Turkey had competitive sides atthe FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2014, at EuroBasket 2015 and at last summer'sFIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in the Philippines yet they did not achievetheir goals.
The Turks did have some memorablegames under Ataman, including a famous come-from-behind triumph over Australiato reach the Quarter-Finals at Spain 2014.
At the EuroBasket later this year,Turkey will host Group D and face Russia, Latvia, Serbia, Belgium and GreatBritain. The top four sides will progress to the Round of 16.
