Basketball - DEMIR Hakan

General
SPORTING BEGINNINGS
He took up basketball after watching 'The White Shadow', a US television drama series about a former professional basketball player who becomes a high school coach. "I played in my high school team and also in some amateur teams. After that I went to Ankara [in Turkiye] as a university student and tried to find ways to still play basketball. Then I realised that it was too late to improve myself for the top level. Still, because of the passion and love inspired by 'The White Shadow', I wanted to be part of basketball, so I chose to be a coach. My father had been working with DSI [the General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works in Turkiye] and with his help I began to train children during the summer camps of the company. I was also working as a doctor at the same time but in 1999 [Turkish club team] Anadolu Efes offered me a job and wanted me to make the choice between being a coach and a doctor. Of course I left my job as a doctor to begin my professional coaching career." (eurohoops, 15 Feb 2015)

COACHING ABROAD
He has worked as an assistant coach at collegiate level in the United States of America, and as head coach at club level in Switzerland and Romania. "When I was studying abroad to finish my doctor's degree I wanted to do something in NCAA basketball. One of my friends told me that there was an open job in Siena College. I finished a successful and productive season under coach Paul Hewitt there. For the Switzerland job, one foreign manager reached out to me and made me an offer. I accepted the offer because I thought that this would be an interesting experience for me. Working in Switzerland was enjoyable, we reached the expectations by qualifying to the play-offs and we finished the season successfully. However there was a big difference between my dreams and the league's potential so I returned to Turkiye and signed with Besiktas IF as head coach." (basketball.eurobasket.com, 01 Jan 2023; eurohoops, 15 Feb 2015)