Melih Mahmutoğlu (born 12 May 1990) is a Turkish professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player and the

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

for Fenerbahçe of the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL) and the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

Club career

Early years

Mahmutoğlu started to play youth basketball with Genç Boğaziçispor. He transferred to the youth clubs of Efes Pilsen in 1999, and he was developed in the Efes Pilsen junior clubs. He made his professional debut in the Turkish Second Division with Pertevniyal, Efes Pilsen's

feeder club In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

, during the 2007–08 season. He signed a contract with Darüşşafaka in 2008. He averaged 7.3 points and 1.4 rebounds with them in the Turkish First Division, in the 2008–09 season. He signed a contract with Galatasaray in 2010. He was loaned to Antalya BB for the 2011–12 season, where he averaged 11.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game in the top-tier level Turkish League. In the summer of 2012, he moved to Erdemirspor. Mahmutoğlu's scoring average with Erdemirspor, of 12.2 points per game, over 30 games played in the Turkish League's 2012–13 season, drew the attention of some bigger European clubs towards him.

Fenerbahçe (2013–present)

In August 2013, Mahmutoğlu signed a two-year contract with an option to extend it for one more season, with Fenerbahçe. In his first

season, he averaged 5.5 points and 1.2 rebounds per game, over 22 games, while shooting 44.8% from the field. In the 2014–15 season, Fenerbahçe advanced to the EuroLeague Final Four, for the first time in the team's history. On 15 May 2015 Fenerbahçe lost in the EuroLeague semifinal game to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, by a score of 87–96. Before the start of the 2015–16 season, he was named the team's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, after departure of Emir Preldžić. In 2016, Fenerbahçe won the

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

, with a 67–65 win over Darüşşafaka. Fenerbahçe also reached the final game of the 2016 Euroleague Final Four, but fell short of winning the EuroLeague championship, after an

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

96–101 loss to CSKA Moscow. Over 18 EuroLeague games, he averaged 4 points per game. At the end of the season, Fenerbahçe also won the

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

championship. On 27 September 2016 he signed a three-year contract extension with the team. In 2017–18 EuroLeague, Fenerbahçe made it to the 2018 EuroLeague Final Four, its fourth consecutive Final Four appearance. Eventually, they lost to

with 80–85 in the final game. He helped Fenerbahçe to their second EuroLeague championship.

International career

With the junior national teams of Turkey, Mahmutoğlu played at the 2006 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, at the 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, and the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, at the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and at the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

FIBA Europe Under-20 Championships. He also played for the Turkish national team, and won the gold medal, at the

2013 Mediterranean Games The 2013 Mediterranean Games (), officially known as the XVII Mediterranean Games () and commonly known as Mersin 2013, was an international multi-sport event held from 20 to 30 June 2013 in Mersin, Turkey. Mersin was announced as the host cit ...

. He also played with the senior Turkish national basketball team at the EuroBasket 2015.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="12", Fenerbahçe , 22 , , 7 , , 14.5 , , .448 , , .415 , , .923 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .5 , , , , 5.5 , , 3.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , 16 , , 2 , , 7.4 , , .351 , , .393 , , , , .7 , , .3 , , , , , , 2.3 , , 0.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , 18 , , 2 , , 12.2 , , .410 , , .404 , , .500 , , .7 , , .4 , , .2 , , , , 4.0 , , 1.5 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2016–17† , 20 , , 4 , , 10.4 , , .426 , , .438 , , 1.000 , , .5 , , .6 , , .3 , , , , 4.0 , , 2.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , 21 , , 4 , , 6.7 , , .325 , , .286 , , 1.000 , , .5 , , .2 , , .1 , , , , 1.7 , , 0.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , 31 , , 5 , , 12.0 , , .508 , , .461 , , .950 , , .8 , , .5 , , .2 , , .0 , , 5.6 , , 4.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , 21 , , 9 , , 17.2 , , .463 , , .508 , , .800 , , .8 , , .5 , , .3 , , , , 6.5 , , 3.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , 28 , , 5 , , 13.7 , , .415 , , .328 , , .857 , , .7 , , .3 , , .2 , , , , 4.1 , , 1.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , 23 , , 6 , , 10.7 , , .385 , , .297 , , .727 , , .3 , , .3 , , .3 , , , , 4.4 , , 1.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2022–23 , 19 , , 0 , , 10.4 , , .438 , , .403 , , 1.000 , , .7 , , .4 , , .1 , , , , 5.4 , , 3.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , 9 , , 0 , , 4.6 , , .333 , , .333 , , , , .1 , , .1 , , .1 , , , , 1.6 , , 0.7 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2024–25† , 6 , , 1 , , 5.3 , , .500 , , .400 , , .0 , , .3 , , .2 , , , , , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 234 , , 45 , , 11.2 , , .491 , , .400 , , .890 , , .7 , , .4 , , .2 , , .0 , , 4.3 , , 2.4

EuroCup

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2010–11 , style="text-align:left;", Galatasaray , 3 , , 1 , , 8.3 , , .333 , , .500 , , 1.000 , , .7 , , , , , , , , 2.3 , , 0.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 3 , , 1 , , 8.3 , , .333 , , .500 , , 1.000 , , .7 , , , , , , , , 2.3 , , 0.3

Domestic leagues

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:right;" ! Year ! Team ! League ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , , style="text-align:left;", Darüşşafaka , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 28 , , 18.0 , , .375 , , .361 , , .429 , , 1.3 , , .8 , , .4 , , , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2010–11 , , style="text-align:left;", Galatasaray , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 13 , , 7.5 , , .395 , , .276 , , 1.000 , , .7 , , .5 , , .2 , , , , 3.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , , style="text-align:left;", Antalya BB , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 30 , , 26.4 , , .446 , , .401 , , .733 , , 1.9 , , .9 , , .4 , , .0 , , 11.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2012–13 , , style="text-align:left;", Erdemirspor , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 30 , , 28.1 , , .451 , , .384 , , .700 , , 2.0 , , .9 , , .5 , , .0 , , 12.2 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2013–14† , , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 39 , , 19.5 , , .432 , , .371 , , .853 , , 2.0 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , , , 6.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 31 , , 14.8 , , .503 , , .457 , , .800 , , 1.0 , , .8 , , .1 , , , , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2015–16† , , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 42 , , 15.8 , , .508 , , .435 , , .846 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , .2 , , , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2016–17† , , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 37 , , 16.2 , , .489 , , .415 , , .905 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , , , 6.5 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2017–18† , , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 39 , , 19.8 , , .529 , , .439 , , .857 , , 1.1 , , 1.7 , , .4 , , .0 , , 9.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 40 , , 22.6 , , .454 , , .381 , , .862 , , 1.7 , , 1.4 , , .4 , , , , 8.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 23 , , 25.2 , , .514 , , .395 , , 1.000 , , 1.8 , , .9 , , .6 , , , , 12.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 34 , , 23.3 , , .497 , , .450 , , .968 , , 1.2 , , .8 , , .4 , , .0 , , 11.3 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2021–22† , , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 41 , , 17.7 , , .498 , , .440 , , .905 , , .9 , , .9 , , .4 , , , , 10.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2022–23 , , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 36 , , 14.4 , , .431 , , .418 , , 1.000 , , .9 , , .5 , , .2 , , .0 , , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2023–24† , , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 39 , , 19.8 , , .473 , , .384 , , .822 , , 1.2 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , , , 9.0

Personal life

Mahmutoğlu, whose original surname was Brničanin, originates from Serbia's southwestern city of

Novi Pazar Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар) is a List of cities in Serbia, city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the urban area has 71,462 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 106,720 inha ...

. He is of

Bosniak The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

origin.