This post was updated April 30 at 9:10 p.m.
One is the loneliest number – or so the song goes.
The Bruins weren’t Harry Nilsson’s inspiration when he wrote the piece, but he might as well have sung about them.
With the third of four international freshmen out the door, it’s a fitting anthem.
Forward Berke Buyuktuncel of UCLA men’s basketball elected to transfer out of the program, On3 reported Tuesday afternoon. Once considered the top Turkish prospect in his class, he arrived in Westwood alongside Slovenian guard Jan Vide and French guard Ilane Fibleuil in fall 2023 but now joins them as a portal entrant less than a year later.
He becomes the seventh Bruin this offseason to head for the exit, leaving Spanish center Aday Mara as the only freshman from overseas set to return.
Another departure was necessary to open a scholarship for Loyola Marymount transfer guard Dominick Harris, who committed Saturday. And by adding forwards Tyler Bilodeau from Oregon State, Eric Dailey Jr. from Oklahoma State and William Kyle III from South Dakota State, Buyuktuncel no longer fit in the frontcourt equation.
The Bursa, Turkey, player came to the Bruins as the No. 7 power forward in his class, according to 247Sports, but struggled to live up to the billing. He averaged 16.2 minutes, 4.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per contest as his role declined from starter to bench player.
It was a fight for coach Mick Cronin just to get Buyuktuncel cleared by the NCAA. He was released from his contract with Tofas S.K. and signed with UCLA on Aug. 5, but was unable to take the court until the fourth game of the season on Nov. 20.
Buyuktuncel showed enough during nonconference play for Cronin to grant him a spot in the starting five, earning the nod for seven of eight opening games of the Pac-12 slate. But after totaling 12 and 13 points in his third and fourth starts, respectively, he never reached the 10-point plateau again.
Cronin demoted him to the bench after a Jan. 20 game against Arizona, and that’s where he would remain for the rest of the season. He attempted just four shots across his final five contests, scoring five points.
Buyuktuncel played a then-season-low five minutes in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament and zero altogether in the quarterfinals – his final game with UCLA.
Seven players are on their way out, and seven are set to arrive, filling all scholarship spots for the 2024-2025 season with the portal closing May 1.
The Bruins’ roster of the future has likely taken its final form.
