UCLA freshman Berke Buyuktuncel enters transfer portal

When building a roster through the transfer portal, the scholarship numbers eventually get sorted. After a commitment over the weekend from Loyola Marymount guard Dominick Harris, the Bruins looked to be set for the fall with only some room needed still on the roster to fit all the pieces.

Tuesday, Berke Buyuktuncel gave the program some breathing room by making the decision to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal on the final day players are able to enter their name.

The freshman from Turkey came to Westwood with high expectations after building a profile as one of the top young players overseas. Some NCAA eligibility hurdles eventually delayed his time to step on the court, but he eventually made his debut against Marquette on Nov. 20.

It was the first of eight starts for Buyuktuncel as a freshman with his next seven starts coming across a span of eight games early in Pac-12 play.

The 6-foot-9, 245-pound big man's time in the starting lineup didn't last long, however.

His last start of the season came on Jan. 20 on the road against Arizona. Buyuktuncel eventually appeared in 13 more games before the end of the season, 26 in all, and finished the year with an average of 4.5 points and 2.5 rebounds.

He scored in double figures twice in his first season highlighted by a 13-point showing against Stanford at Pauley Pavilion in early January. The freshman opened the first week of Pac-12 play with a 12-point performance on the road against Oregon.

UCLA coach Mick Cronin has been able to reshape his roster coming off a challenging season for the Bruins in which they finished under .500 at 16-17 overall.

The Bruins have added six new players via the transfer portal this spring including top-100 players William Kyle III (South Dakota State) and Kobe Johnson (USC).