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Dejah Terrell Starts Pro Career in Turkey with Familiar Success


Dejah Terrell with her new professional club in Turkey: Turgutlu Belediyespor Manisa. (Photo courtesy of Dejah Terrell)
Dejah Terrell with her new professional club in Turkey: Turgutlu Belediyespor Manisa. (Photo courtesy of Dejah Terrell)

Dejah Terrell has found success on the basketball court at every level of her career, whether it was during high school at Berks Catholic, at the Division III collegiate level with Albright, or at the Division II level with the California University of Pennsylvania. 


Terrell, a 6-1 forward, is now trying to replicate that success professionally and she’s off to a great start.


She signed a contract in July with Turgutlu Belediyespor Manisa in the Turkish Women’s Basketball League (TKBL), which is the second tier of Turkey’s professional women’s basketball system, one below the Women’s Basketball Super League.


The team is located in Manisa, a city located approximately 25 miles northeast of Turkey’s third-most populous city, İzmir.


“Where I’m at in Turkey, there’s not many people at all that speak English or tourists,” Terrell said via WhatsApp Sunday. “It’s kind of hard to adjust to that, but it’s been amazing. The food is great. The people are very kind once we get to understanding each other. There’s beautiful scenery. I’m really, really happy where I’m at right now.”


Terrell said her top Turkish foods so far have been the pasta and the lamb and even tried a surprise hit.


“I tried cow liver for the first time and at first was like, ‘Oh no, I don’t want that,’” she said. “Then I tried it and it was actually pretty good.”


The adjustment period on the basketball court hasn’t been hard.


Turgutlu started its season in September and is off to a 3-1 start behind the play of Terrell, who is averaging team-highs in scoring (19.3 points per game) and rebounds (10.5). She’s also averaging a steal and a rebound per game.


“The most challenging thing is just knowing my role here,” Terrell said. “So far in my career, I’ve always been the go-to person on my teams. But here, I’m still the go-to person, but it’s not like I can just take over and have the same success. I have to do all the little things to make my team successful.”



Dejah Terrell during a photo shoot with her new professional club in Turkey. (Photo courtesy of Dejah Terrell)
Dejah Terrell during a photo shoot with her new professional club in Turkey. (Photo courtesy of Dejah Terrell)

Doing the little things has never been a problem for Terrell, whose defense and rebounding have been elite parts of her game since she was in high school.


As a sophomore at Berks Catholic, she learned from the Saints’ all-time leading scorer in Devon Merritt, focusing on the little things while Merritt was the primary scorer on a team that went to the state semifinals.


“Devon Merritt was such a great leader,” Terrell said. “Now that I think about it I get a lot of my leadership skills from her because she was very humble, but also a dominant player. She was a great role model on and off the court.”


Berks Catholic was Terrell’s team the next two seasons. As a junior, she scored 22 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in the Berks County championship victory over Wilson. She doubled down as a senior with a 16-point, 11-rebound game in the Berks championship victory over Gov. Mifflin.


Terrell led Berks Catholic to both the District 3 and PIAA championship games as a senior, with the Saints falling both times to Lancaster Catholic and Kiki Jefferson, who went on to play at James Madison and Louisville and was selected in the WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx before eventually being waived.


Those Saints are one of three Berks teams to ever make a state final alongside Boyertown in 2017 (the only Berks team to win it all) and Holy Name in 1993. 


Terrell finished her high school career with 1,290 points, second most in Berks Catholic history and 49th in Berks County history.


“I feel like my time at Berks Catholic shaped me as a person,” Terrell said. “It gave me the balance of living in Reading, but then also getting the experience of going to a private school.”


She was coached at Berks Catholic by Berks girls basketball’s all-time winningest coach Bob Birmingham, who was also the coach on Holy Name’s 1993 state finalist.





“Coach B was very, very important to me,” Terrell added. “Having him as my coach was the best thing for me because he kept me focused, just like my parents would, and with my parents not being there he was always there.”


After high school she moved on to play two seasons at Albright, where she averaged 21.7 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks and broke the single-season scoring, rebound, and block records as a sophomore. She also broke the single-game scoring record with a 41-point performance (still stands) and rebound record of 26, which was broken by Gabby Boggs (27) in 2022.


She decided to transfer up a level to Cal U of PA, which canceled her first year there due to COVID, but granted her an extra year of eligibility. The next year she averaged 18.6 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks; was named a WBCA All-American; and led the Vulcans to the PSAC finals.


After playing only two games due to injury in 2022-23, she returned to averaged 15.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game the next season and led the Vulcans to the PSAC semifinals.





She finished her college career with 1,843 total points, 746 at Albright and 1,097 at Cal U.


Her goal was to play basketball overseas after college, so she hired an agent and picked Turkey over other leagues in Czech Republic, Germany, Puerto Rico, and Spain.


Terrell noted her biggest improvements from high school and college are her consistency and mid-range jumper, two aspects she plans to continue to improve as she progresses toward her next goal of playing in a country’s top women’s basketball league.


“It doesn’t necessarily have to be in Turkey, but I do want to be in the Super Leagues,” Terrell said. “That’s where all of the WNBA players are. My biggest thing is not being okay with being comfortable. I want to be put into the uncomfortable situation and learn how to adjust to players that are better than me.”


She admitted she doesn’t watch much of the sport outside of her job as a professional basketball player, but a handful of players currently playing in the Berks Girls League have caught her eye. What would she say to a young girl hoping to follow a similar path as her?


“No matter what division, no matter what school, no matter what path you go to, just give it your all and you can be blessed with the best opportunities ever.”


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