Penn State men’s basketball started off the 2025-26 season scorching hot, winning eight of their first nine games. However, things went downhill in a hurry once they got to conference play, which is exactly how freshman guard Melih Tunca’s season went.
He scored in double figures in nine of the Nittany Lions’ first 10 games, but hit that mark just four more times in the final three months of the season. This year was a disappointment for everyone involved after the feverish start the team jumped out to. There also seemed to be much more room for Tunca to grow at Penn State, especially considering his spirited start to the season.
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However, his minutes began to fall later in the season along with his play, so now the Turkish guard will look to continue his college career elsewhere. It was revealed by NBA Draft expert Jonathan Givony that Tunca will enter the transfer portal, likely searching for a team that can offer him more minutes and has less of a logjam at the guard positions.
Tunca averaged 7.8 points and 2.3 assists for the Nittany Lions last season in just 23 minutes per game, the fifth-most on the team. It isn’t hard to see how he could improve his numbers on a team with more playing time.
Now, for Penn State, they will be tasked with finding a replacement for Tunca, who became the team’s first transfer of this cycle. While they don’t need to find someone at his exact position, they must find an impact player to improve upon their record, 12-20, which was the worst in over a decade.
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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Freshman G Melih Tunca to transfer from Penn State basketball
