Kaan Onat Becomes Ninth Signee To Join UT Martin Men’s Basketball Program
5/14/2026 3:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MARTIN, Tenn. – Kaan Onat, a dynamic 6-5, 205-pound freshman guard, has finalized his commitment to the University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball squad for the 2026-27 campaign.
Onat was named to the All-Star Five of the 2024 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup held in his hometown of Istanbul, Turkey, joining Cameron Boozer (National Player of the Year at Duke), AJ Dybantsa (first team All-American at BYU), Oscar Goodman (freshman for national champion Michigan) and Maikcol Perez (freshman at Baylor).
Onat ranked fifth in that tournament in both scoring (18.9 points per game) and assists (4.7 per contest) while also grabbing 5.1 rebounds per outing. He shot 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from three-point range over the course of seven games in that event, helping lead Turkey to a third-place finish. He scored 32 points with five rebounds, five assists and three steals in a group phase victory over Argentina on July 2 and flirted with a triple-double (16 points, nine assists, seven rebounds) in a July 5 quarterfinal triumph over Spain.
"Kaan is a player that we are very excited about," Skyhawk head coach Jeremy Shulman said. "He is a big, strong, skilled guard that can really create for himself and others. He is the ultimate competitor and our staff is really excited to coach him."
A high-level guard, Onat played parts of four seasons with the Anadolu Efes organization in the Turkish EBBL before ending the 2024-25 season with Anka Spor. He averaged 19.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.8 steals in 18 games with Anadolu Efes before posting a stat line of 15.8 points, 5.1 assists and 3.3 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 18 games with Anka Spor.
In addition to his international success at the 2024 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup, Onat pumped in 23 points, five assists and four rebounds against Austria at the 2025 FIBA U18 EuroBasket event played in Belgrade, Serbia. He also collected averages of 13.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.1 steals in seven outings at the 2024 FIBA U18 EuroBasket event held in Tampere, Finland. His best two games in that tournament came in the group phase against Germany (21 points, eight rebounds on July 27) and against Belgium (19 points, seven rebounds, four assists, four steals on July 28).
Onat averaged 12.5 points, 4.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals per contest while shooting 58.6 percent (17-of-29) over four games in the prestigious NextGen EuroLeague U18 tournament in 2023. He was also responsible for averages of 15.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.9 steals in seven games at the 2023 FIBA U16 EuroBasket event held in Skopje, North Macedonia. He dialed up 26 points and nine rebounds against Lithuania on Aug. 9 and also scored 20-plus points against Italy (21 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals on Aug. 5) and against Israel (20 points, seven rebounds, four assists, five steals on Aug. 10).
A graduate of Mezun Olduğu Üniversite, Onat joins Reid Conley (Chattanooga, Tenn.), Armandas Bancevicius (Kaunas, Lithuania), Gabrielius Bubnys (Marijampolė, Lithuania), Nikola Janicic (Skopje, North Macedonia), Giorgi Sulaberidze (Kutaisi, Georgia), Davi Remagen (Köln, Germany), Nikas Stuknys (Panevėžys, Lithuania) and Sasha Savkov (Moscow, Russia) in UT Martin's signing class. The Skyhawks piled up 22 victories – equaling the single-season school record – and ranked in the top-10 in NCAA Division I men's basketball in four separate statistical categories in Year Two under Shulman, advancing to the Ohio Valley Conference Championship semifinals for the third time in the past four seasons.
Onat was named to the All-Star Five of the 2024 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup held in his hometown of Istanbul, Turkey, joining Cameron Boozer (National Player of the Year at Duke), AJ Dybantsa (first team All-American at BYU), Oscar Goodman (freshman for national champion Michigan) and Maikcol Perez (freshman at Baylor).
Onat ranked fifth in that tournament in both scoring (18.9 points per game) and assists (4.7 per contest) while also grabbing 5.1 rebounds per outing. He shot 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from three-point range over the course of seven games in that event, helping lead Turkey to a third-place finish. He scored 32 points with five rebounds, five assists and three steals in a group phase victory over Argentina on July 2 and flirted with a triple-double (16 points, nine assists, seven rebounds) in a July 5 quarterfinal triumph over Spain.
"Kaan is a player that we are very excited about," Skyhawk head coach Jeremy Shulman said. "He is a big, strong, skilled guard that can really create for himself and others. He is the ultimate competitor and our staff is really excited to coach him."
A high-level guard, Onat played parts of four seasons with the Anadolu Efes organization in the Turkish EBBL before ending the 2024-25 season with Anka Spor. He averaged 19.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.8 steals in 18 games with Anadolu Efes before posting a stat line of 15.8 points, 5.1 assists and 3.3 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 18 games with Anka Spor.
In addition to his international success at the 2024 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup, Onat pumped in 23 points, five assists and four rebounds against Austria at the 2025 FIBA U18 EuroBasket event played in Belgrade, Serbia. He also collected averages of 13.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.1 steals in seven outings at the 2024 FIBA U18 EuroBasket event held in Tampere, Finland. His best two games in that tournament came in the group phase against Germany (21 points, eight rebounds on July 27) and against Belgium (19 points, seven rebounds, four assists, four steals on July 28).
Onat averaged 12.5 points, 4.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals per contest while shooting 58.6 percent (17-of-29) over four games in the prestigious NextGen EuroLeague U18 tournament in 2023. He was also responsible for averages of 15.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.9 steals in seven games at the 2023 FIBA U16 EuroBasket event held in Skopje, North Macedonia. He dialed up 26 points and nine rebounds against Lithuania on Aug. 9 and also scored 20-plus points against Italy (21 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals on Aug. 5) and against Israel (20 points, seven rebounds, four assists, five steals on Aug. 10).
A graduate of Mezun Olduğu Üniversite, Onat joins Reid Conley (Chattanooga, Tenn.), Armandas Bancevicius (Kaunas, Lithuania), Gabrielius Bubnys (Marijampolė, Lithuania), Nikola Janicic (Skopje, North Macedonia), Giorgi Sulaberidze (Kutaisi, Georgia), Davi Remagen (Köln, Germany), Nikas Stuknys (Panevėžys, Lithuania) and Sasha Savkov (Moscow, Russia) in UT Martin's signing class. The Skyhawks piled up 22 victories – equaling the single-season school record – and ranked in the top-10 in NCAA Division I men's basketball in four separate statistical categories in Year Two under Shulman, advancing to the Ohio Valley Conference Championship semifinals for the third time in the past four seasons.
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