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Not Even a Tattoo Could Stop Nebraska Player From Entering Transfer Portal
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Nebraska men’s basketball team made program history this year by winning their first ever NCAA tournament games. The Cornhuskers ended up winning two games in the tournament this year, advancing to the second weekend for the first time. Their exciting run ended with a Sweet 16 loss to Iowa.
To commemorate the historic feat they achieved this year, forward Berke Büyüktuncel got a tattoo on Tuesday. He inked Nebraska’s 2025–26 regular season record on his arm, 28–7. This season was Buyuktuncel’s second with the Cornhuskers, and the team improved from last year’s 21–14 record. If he went so far to get a permanent tattoo to honor this season, it’s clear his second year with Nebraska meant a lot to Büyüktuncel.
But, Nebraska’s success apparently wasn’t enough to keep Büyüktuncel in Lincoln for next season, his senior year. Büyüktuncel entered the transfer portal just one day after getting the tattoo. What a complete change of heart there.
Forward Berke Buyuktuncel got a tattoo to commemorate the Huskers historic season, and then entered the transfer portal a day later. pic.twitter.com/dHrrAGFTGG
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 8, 2026
MORE: Men’s College Basketball Transfer Portal Tracker
Büyüktuncel posted a farewell message to Nebraska on his Instagram on Wednesday.
“These past two years at Nebraska have been nothing short of life-changing but the time has come for a new chapter,” Büyüktuncel wrote. “... Competing shoulder-to-shoulder with this incredible group has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I will carry the spirit of this team and the memories we created with me forever.”
The 6' 10" Turkish player started in 33 games for the Cornhuskers this past season. He averaged 6.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per contest.
This isn’t Büyüktuncel’s first time in the transfer portal. After his freshman season at UCLA, he landed with Nebraska ahead of the 2024–25 season. Nebraska made it farther than UCLA in the NCAA tournament this year, so the move seemed to work out for Büyüktuncel.
We’ll see where the forward lands next, if he ultimately decides to move on from the Huskers. He’ll always have a part of Nebraska’s historic season on him no matter where he plays next year.
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Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University.