Şebnem Kimyacıoğlu

Şebnem Kimyacıoğlu — Biography

Şebnem Kimyacıoğlu is a Turkish-American basketball player and lawyer, remembered above all for Galatasaray's 2013-14 EuroLeague Women title and for the Turkey squad at the Rio 2016 Olympics. After retiring from basketball she returned to the legal profession. She holds both US and Turkish citizenship and stands 1.82 m tall.

Playing for Pinewood School in California she was named Central Coast Section most valuable player in four straight seasons, then moved to Stanford University and graduated in 2005 with an economics degree; at college she stood out for her three-point shooting and reached the NCAA tournament's Elite Eight. Her professional path began in Turkey with Beşiktaş (2005-2007), followed by Galatasaray. After an injury she stepped away from the court to concentrate on law, directing the Bay Area Basketball Academy in the meantime. She came back to Galatasaray in 2012, and in 2013-14 her clutch three-pointers against Fenerbahçe in the EuroLeague final helped secure the championship; with the club she won two league titles and a Turkish Cup.

For the national team she was in the squads for the 2005 and 2007 European Championships. In 2016 she returned to the court with Near East University (Yakın Doğu Üniversitesi), played that year for the Turkey side that reached the Rio quarter-finals, and ended her career after the Games. Her sister, Yasemin Kimyacıoğlu, is also a former basketball player.