Cem Dinç
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cem Dinç, (born on July 23, 1985 in Bassum), Germany, is a Turkish basketball player in the center position. He is currently playing in the top ranking college team of Indiana Hoosiers at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, USA. Since August 2005, the 2.10 m tall player is member of the Turkey national basketball team.
Cem was born into a family of Turkish father and German mother, and grew up in Germany. His father, a medical doctor, was a former national champion and world-class track star in the 110 m hurdles. Cem played high school basketball at Landschulheim Schloss Heesen in Hamm, Germany and led his high school team to undefeated record and national championship in 2002. His father helped him work on his strength, speed, and agility by focusing on sprints and plyometrics. This increased his jumping ability and explosiveness, and made him an excellent athlete for a player of his size. Cem runs the 100 m at 10.8 seconds.
After playing for a while in the regional league in Germany for Rhöndorfer TV and college team UBC Münster, Cem moved to the USA intending to major in international business and signed with the Indiana Hoosiers at Indiana University.
Cem Dinç was discovered for the Turkey national basketball team as he was playing in the NCAA Men’s tournament in the USA. He was recruited to the Turkish team during its preparations for the European Basketball Championship 2005. He played with the NBA stars Hedo Türkoğlu (Orlando Magic) and Mehmet Okur (Utah Jazz) in the Turkish team. Cem gained more experience playing against NBA players such as Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs), Andrei Kirilenko (Utah Jazz), Turkoglu and Okur, among others in the Efes World Cup, a tournament which features some of the best teams in Europe.
