Elif Istanbulluoglu

Mackenly Randolph and Elif Istanbulluoglu celebrate versus Vermont

Position:
Forward
Height:
6-3
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Istanbul, Türkiye
High School:
Fenerbahçe S.K

PRONUNCIATION EH-lif ee-stahn-BOO-low-loo

Senior Year (2026-27)

Named to the Türkiye Senior National Team for the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup, which was held in Germany in September. She was the only active ACC player and one of just five college players overall named to a World cup active roster.

Junior Year (2025-26)

Played and started in 36 games for the Cardinals
Was one of three players to average over 10 points per game (10.1) and was third on the team with 5.1 rebounds per game and 26.6 minutes played
Had 17 games in double figures, led the team in scoring six times and had a team-best in rebounds and assists three times
Led the team with 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting with seven rebounds in the NCAA Tournament against Michigan
Tallied her second career double-double with a team-best 18 points and 11 rebounds to go with three assists and zero turnovers in 38 minutes in the NCAA Tournament win over Alabama
Scored 11 points, hauled in six rebounds and had a team-best four assists in the ACC Tournament win over North Carolina
Just missed a double-double with nine points, nine rebounds and tied a career high with a team-best five assists against Notre Dame
Led the team with 18 points with three rebounds, three assists and tied a career high with two steals in the win over Georgia Tech
Scored 20 points, set a career high with three three-pointers and had five rebounds, three assists and two steals against Virginia
Tallied 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting against Wake Forest
Led the team with 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting with six rebounds against #17/#22 Duke
Scored 15 points and led the team with seven rebounds to go with four assists and two steals in the road win over Cal
Tallied 10 points in the road win over Stanford
Scored 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the road win over #23/#22 Notre Dame
Had a career-high 23 points and career-best five assists to go with seven rebounds in the win over Miami
Scored 11 points and tied a career high with two steals to go with four rebounds in the win over SMU
Hauled in a career-best 14 rebounds with nine points and a block in the win over #17/#18 Tennessee
Scored a career-high 16 points in a career-best 39 minutes played in the road win over #12/#11 North Carolina
Tied a career high with 15 points and led the team with nine rebounds against #3 South Carolina
Had a career high for the second-straight night with 15 points against ETSU
Set a career high with 12 points against Eastern Illinois
Tied a career high with 11 points against Morehead State
Tallied six points and five rebounds in win over Clemson
Scored nine points and had seven rebounds in the win over NKU

Summer (2025)

Made the Türkiye Senior National Team that competed at the 2025 FIBA Eurobasket in Greece. Coach Walz was an assistant on the team and Türkiye finished seventh.
She also competed with Türkiye at the 2025 FIBA U20 Eurobasket in Portugal and they finished seventh overall
Elif lead the squad with 17.9 points and 11.1 rebounds per game while shooting .440 percent from the floor.
She was one of 10 ‘Players who lit up FIBA U20 Women’s EuroBasket 2025’ by FIBA following the tournament.

Sophomore Year (2024-25)

Played in all 33 games and averaged 13.0 minutes per game in her sophomore season
Averaged 3.0 points per game and 2.0 rebounds per game with a .442 field goal percentage
Scored four points and tallied four rebounds in the NCAA first round win over No. 10 Nebraska
Set a season high with nine points in the win over Syracuse
Tied a season high with six points against Memphis
Set a career high with four assists to go with six points and five rebounds against Morehead State

Summer (2024)

Played with Türkiye at the U20 FIBA Eurobasket in Lithuiana and Coach Walz was an assistant on the staff.
She averaged 16.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and shot .447 percent from the floor as Türkiye finished seventh.
She was named a 'Player Who Impressed' by FIBA following the tournament.

Freshman Year (2023-24)

Played in all 34 games and made two starts in her first season with the Cardinals.
Scored seven points and hit one three-pointer in her first career NCAA Tournament game against Middle Tennessee.
Earned her first career start in the road win over Georgia Tech.
Tallied a career high 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting with four rebounds against Boston College.
Scored nine points, was 4-for-5 from the floor and 1-for-1 from behind the arc with four rebounds in the win over Wake.
Tallied her first double-double in just her third collegiate game with 10 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Bellarmine. She was the first freshman to record a double-double since 2021.
Made her collegiate debut against Cincinnati on Nov. 6 and tallied seven points, three rebounds, one block and one steal.

Prep

Played with Türkiye at the 2023 FIBA U18 and U20 Championships this summer
At the U18 Championships, she helped Türkiye reach the quarterfinals and finished eighth
She averaged 11.0 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, which was second on the team in scoring and she led the team in rebounds
At the U20 Championships, Türkiye finished eighth and she averaged double figures with 10.7 points per game during the tournament
She played in the most recent FIBA EuroLeague season with Fenerbahçe S.K
Fenerbahçe S.K won the EuroLeague for the first time in team history

Personal