Ufuk Sarıca
 Sarıca as head coach of Anadolu Efes in 2012 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Ufuk Sarıca |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Born |
June 13, 1972 İstanbul, Turkey |
| Height | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) |
| Sport | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Club |
Efes Pilsen (1992-1999) Ülkerspor (1999-2001) Bnei HaSharon (2001) Pınar Karşıyaka (2001-2002) Darüşşafaka (2002-2003) Beşiktaş (2003-2004) |
| Turned pro | 1992 |
| Retired | 2004 |
| Now coaching |
Beşiktaş Cola Turka (2007) Anadolu Efes (2011-2012) Pınar Karşıyaka (2012-present) |
Ufuk Sarıca (born June 13, 1972, İstanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish former professional basketball player and current head coach of Pınar Karşıyaka.
Career
Playing career
Sarıca began his career at the age of 16 at Efes Pilsen's Youth Team, and played for Efes for 16 consecutive seasons. During his time at Efes, he won the Korać Cup in 1996, beating Italian side Olimpia Milano at the two-legged final. While with Efes Pilsen he reached the European Cup final as well as playing in the Euroleague Quarter-finals 4 times (3 of these quarterfinals were consecutive between 1997 and 1999). He was part of the strong Efes roster along with Hidayet Türkoğlu, Ömer Onan, and Hüseyin Beşok. He left the team in the summer of 1999 after important members of the legendary Efes Team of 1996, Tamer Oyguç, Murat Evliyaoğlu, and Volkan Aydın, were let go from the club.
He joined Ülkerspor where he won the Turkish League title during the 2000-2001 season. As Harun Erdenay became more influential in the forward position his playing time was limited and as such he moved to Israeli side Bnei HaSharon. This was followed by a short spell at Montepaschi Siena.
After Siena, Sarica returned to Turkey and played at Pınar Karşıyaka, Darüşşafaka, and Beşiktaş Cola Turka, each for a single season, after which he retired.
Manegarial career
Sarıca began his post-retirement career as the assistant of Murat Didin at Beşiktaş. When Didin left the club in March 2007, Sarıca was appointed as caretaker manager until the end of the season. Then he worked with Ergin Ataman as assistant coach at Beşiktaş again where they reached the TBL play-off semi-finals in the 2007/08 season. Ataman left the Beşiktaş and joined Efes Pilsen at the end of the season and Sarıca joined Efes Pilsen as the assistant coach of Ataman once again.[1] He became head coach on an interim basis during the 2010-11 season and was handed the role as permanent head coach in June 2011.
On July 17, 2012, he signed a two-year contract with Pınar Karşıyaka.[2]