There's far more to Harvard forward Cem Dinc than the 18 straight games he sat out to the start the season, or his one-minute debut against Penn on Feb. 1.
For the 6-foot-11 Dinc, it's not about the destination; it's about the journey. Harvard is the third college he has attended.
The German-born Turkish national was recruited to play for Indiana by then-coach Mike Davis in the summer of 2005.
But Dinc would see only 12 minutes his freshman year there, and scored a total of three points.
His work ethic was widely criticized, and it was reported that Davis had him ride the pine due to the forward's insistence on playing around the perimeter instead of inside. Apparently, Dinc had envisioned himself as "playing the two or three" guard positions.
After the season, Davis resigned and was replaced by Kelvin Sampson. The relationship between the rising sophomore and new coach was icy to say the least - Dinc returned home to Europe soon after the season and reportedly never even spoke to Sampson.
While overseas in 2006, Dinc made the unusual decision to declare for the NBA Draft.
Predictably, his name went uncalled after the two rounds were up. But he did not hire an agent and thus retained his collegiate eligibility.
Instead of returning to Indiana, he parted ways. Given the circumstances of his sudden and unexpected decision to leave IU, Dinc was unable to transfer to any Division-I colleges. So he ended up at tiny Marshalltown Community College in Marshalltown, Iowa.
There, he averaged a double-double, and some D-I programs that were previously wary of him began to take interest. It looked as if he had gotten his act together, and with his size and athleticism - the son of a track star, he can run the 100m in 10.8 seconds - Harvard came knocking on his door.
Dinc has hardly flourished under Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, averaging under one point per game. But as bizarre histories go, the Turkish big man may be peerless.
