Basketball’s history in Turkey starts in 1906 with American teachers at Robert College. They were first to exercise this game. In 1911, the person who set up a basket on a wall and played basketball in the Galatasaray High School yard was Ahmet Robenson, the goalkeeper of the Galatasaray football team. In 1913, Fenerbahçe established a basketball team, but this branch did not attract much interest. Selim Sırrı Tarcan, one of the sports figures who introduced Swedish gymnastics to our country, was the physical education teacher at the Teacher’s School in Cağaloğlu at that time. He facilitated the playing of basketball at the school. After basketball began being played in Istanbul, Ahmet Robenson from Galatasaray High School showed renewed interest in basketball and became the captain of the first Turkish team. At that time, practice matches were being played between Turkish students and American teachers.
The situation had now escalated to a serious match. On Saturday, March 26, 1921, Turkish and American teams faced off in the yard of the Cağaloğlu Higher Teacher’s School.
The American team won this historic match 18-14.
From the book “100 Sports Events of Istanbul”