UC Irvine freshman guard Derin Saran has exploded for a breakout year for the Anteaters this season. As a true freshman, Saran is averaging 10.3 points per game off the bench for the Anteaters.
Saran has a unique background. He grew up in Istanbul, Turkey and started playing basketball at four years old. His dad played soccer at the University of California at Berkeley, and he has three uncles who played Division I college sports. His older sister attends USC, yet the remainder of his family remains home in Turkey.
Saran grew up a die hard Derrick Rose fan and tried to emulate his game after the former National Basketball Association’s MVP.
“Growing up, my inspiration was Derrick Rose,” Saran said in an interview with the New University. “I loved watching him succeed. He got hurt, but he’s still in the league trying to make an impact. The Bulls were my favorite team growing up because he was there.”
In the summer of 2019, Derin enrolled at Asheville School in North Carolina to begin his high school career. There, Saran excelled academically and athletically, earning a spot on the varsity basketball team in his sophomore year. He helped lead his team to back-to-back-to-back conference championships in 2021, 2022 and 2023. During his senior season, Saran averaged 19.8 ppg, 8.1 rebounds per game and 7.2 assists per game. He pinnacled as the number four ranked North Carolina high school player.
After graduating from high school, Saran announced on instagram that he had committed to play for head coach Russell Turner and the UC Irvine Anteaters for fall 2023 after receiving offers from the University of Wyoming, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara and others.
“[Coach Turner is] one of the main reasons I came here,” Saran said. “Coach Turner’s coaching style is pretty demanding, but I feel like it’s been great. He pushes me every day. He wants to get the best out of me and I love when he does that because I want to play the best that I can be at, so I feel like he’s a great coach for me.”
This past summer, Saran competed for the U19 Turkish National team and the U20 European Championships.
“It was an awesome experience to compete against the best players from each country,” Saran said. “It really helped me stay ready and obviously helped me for college to be exposed to that talent.”
Upon joining the Anteaters, Saran was immediately thrust into the action competing for the team in the 42nd annual William Jones Cup in Taipei, Taiwan. The 6-foot-4 guard helped lead the Anteaters to an 8-0 record en route to the tournament championship, adding 23 points and a monstrous 19 rebounds in the title game.
“It was a great opportunity to bond with the team, and just be closer to them overall,” Saran said. “We beat teams pretty easily because we played with a lot of energy and I feel like other teams couldn’t match that. We brought the energy defensively and I think that’s definitely something we can bring into the regular season.”
This season, Saran has played in 20 games averaging 19.3 minutes per game, recording a season high 17 points twice, once in a 75-67 victory over Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 4 and again in a 73-59 victory over Cal Poly on Feb. 1.
Saran has been thrust into a backup point guard role behind fifth year guard Pierre Crockrell II, the conference’s assist leader at a 6.1 apg.
“He’s a great point guard that I can learn a lot of things from,” Saran said when asked about his relationship with Crockrell II. “His court vision is great. Obviously, I love playing with him because every time I cut, he sees me and I get a wide open layup, so he makes my life easier too. There’s a lot of things I can learn from him, but also it’s great playing alongside him.”
Saran said his favorite memory this season was upsetting then 16th ranked USC on the road 70-60.
“The best part of the season for me was beating USC. My sister goes there, so that was a pretty cool experience beating them,” Saran said.
Coach Turner spoke about the significance of signing a player like Saran and the scoring spark he has provided for the Anteaters this season.
“He’s a point guard with size, he’s a true freshman [and] he’s a talent,” Turner said in an interview with the New University. “He is exceptionally motivated and competitive and he has an intriguing combination of size, skill and confidence in his ability to make others better and make his teams win. Derin’s future is bright, and I am grateful to him and his family for their belief in us.”
The Anteaters have started the season 10-1 in conference play with Saran leading the bench unit, and are hungry for more, with championship aspirations this season, after falling short of their NCAA tournament goal last season to Cal State Fullerton in the Big West Conference semifinal game, 83-80.
James Huston is a 2023-2024 Sports Co-Editor. He can be reached at hustonj@uci.edu.
