Timo Saarelainen (born August 23, 1960) is a retired Finnish basketball player.

He was a member of the Finnish national basketball team for seven years and was a star college player at Brigham Young University (BYU) in the United States.

While there he went to two NCAA tournaments and as a senior in 1985 was named the Western Athletic Conference player of the year.

[2] Following his BYU career, Saarelainen was selected in the fifth round of the 1985 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, but did not play in the league.

[3] Saarelainen played six seasons for Helsingin NMKY of Korisliiga, Finland's top professional league.