Mark Turgeon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mark Turgeon | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Title | Head coach | |
| College | Texas A&M | |
| Sport | Basketball | |
| Conference | Big 12 | |
| Team record | 25–11 | |
| Born | February 5, 1965 | |
| Place of birth | Topeka, Kansas | |
| Annual salary | $1,200,000[1] | |
| Career highlights | ||
| Overall | 178–130 | |
| Tournaments | 4–4 | |
| Championships | ||
| MVC Regular Season Championship (2006) | ||
| Awards | ||
| MVC Coach of the Year (2006) | ||
| Playing career | ||
| 1984–1987 | Kansas | |
| Position | Point guard | |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||
| 1987–1992 1992–1997 1997–1998 1998–2000 2000–2007 2007–present |
Kansas (asst.) Oregon (asst.) Philadelphia 76ers (asst.) Jacksonville State Wichita State Texas A&M |
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Mark Leo Turgeon (born February 5, 1965 in Topeka, Kansas) is the current head basketball coach of Texas A&M University. Prior to coaching at A&M, Turgeon served as head coach at Wichita State University and Jacksonville State University.[2]
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[edit] Personal
Mark Turgeon was born and raised as one of seven children[3] in Topeka, Kansas. Turgeon graduated from the University of Kansas in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in Personnel Administration. He added a master's degree in Education from the University of Oklahoma in the same year.[4] He is married to the former Ann Fowler, and together they have three children.
[edit] Playing career
As a member of the basketball team at Hayden High School, Mark Turgeon's team had a 47-3 record, with consecutive Class 4A State Championships in 1982 and 1983. Turgeon earned All-State Tournament team honors in both of those years.[5]
Although only 5 feet 10 inches,[6] Turgeon earned a scholarship to play basketball at the University of Kansas under Coach Larry Brown, where he played in four consecutive NCAA tournaments, becoming the first KU player to do so.[7] He was a reserve point guard for the 1986 Jayhawks team that went 35-4, won the Big Eight Conference regular season and tournament championships, and made it to the Final Four. Turgeon was a team captain in both 1986 and 1987, a member of the Big Eight All-Freshmen Team in 1984, and was named as a Big Eight All-Academic Performer in 1986.[5] Fans called him "The Surgeon" because, in addition to rhyming with his surname, he had the ability to "carve up defenses."
After his freshman year, coach Larry Brown told Turgeon that he would likely never play in the NBA and should consider becoming a coach after college. Turgeon agreed, and Brown soon began asking his advice during games and practices, inquiring "What would you do here?" Turgeon remembers that he never got the answer right; Brown always sighed, rolled his eyes, and did something differently.[6]
[edit] Coaching career
[edit] Early positions
After Turgeon earned a degree from the University of Kansas in 1987, he immediately took a position as an assistant to his former coach, Larry Brown.[5] In his first year of coaching, he helped the team win a national championship in the 1988 NCAA Tournament. That team has been dubbed "Danny and the Miracles" due to the leadership of National Player of the Year Danny Manning.
Turgeon remained on the Kansas staff when Roy Williams took over after Brown left for the San Antonio Spurs in 1989, becoming the head coach of the junior varsity team in addition to his duties as an assistant coach. During this time, Kansas won back-to-back Big Eight Conference Championships in 1991 and 1992, and were Big Eight Tournament Champions in 1992.[5]
Following the 1992 season, Turgeon left Kansas to become the top assistant to recently-hired University of Oregon head coach Jerry Green, who had also been an assistant at Kansas. During his five years as an assistant at Oregon, the Ducks were invited to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 34 years, earned a spot in the 1997 National Invitation Tournament, and had three consecutive winning seasons for the first time in two decades. Turgeon served as the recruiting coordinator for Oregon in 1995, his class ranking as the 35th best in the country. The following year he signed two of the top 100 players in the country.[5]
Turgeon briefly left college coaching in 1997. When head coach Jerry Green left Oregon to coach at the University of Tennessee, Turgeon again chose to work for his former coach, Larry Brown, becoming an assistant for the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers for a year.[5]
[edit] Jacksonville State
Turgeon accepted his first head coaching position in 1998 with Jacksonville State in Alabama. In his first year as head coach, the team accumulated an 8-18 record, finishing tied for 10th in the Trans America Conference. The following season, his team improved to 17-11, 12-6 in conference, with a 3rd place conference finish.[5]
[edit] Wichita State
After the 1999-2000 season, Turgeon returned to his home state as head coach of the Wichita State Shockers, a team which had had only two winning seasons in the previous 11 years. In his first season with the Shockers, the team lost their first 11 games before winning 9 of their last 17 for a 9-19 record.[5] Of their losses, two came in overtime and four others were decided by fewer than four points.[8] They improved the following season to 15 wins and 15 losses,[9] the most wins the team had had in a season in four years.[5] For the next three seasons, the team steadily improved, earning a berth in the National Invitation Tournament for each of 2003, 2004, and 2005 seasons.[9]
During the 2006 season, the Shockers continued to improve, winning the Missouri Valley Conference for the first time since 1983. The team earned a trip to the 2006 NCAA Tournament, the program's first since 1988. The Shockers defeated 10th-seed Seton Hall by 20 points in their first round game and upset 2nd-seed Tennessee to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in 25 years.[9] The Shockers were then defeated by Final Four-participant George Mason, 63-55.
Mark Turgeon and the Shockers started the 2006-2007 season 9-0, winning on the road at George Mason,[10] LSU,[11] and Syracuse.[12] The Shockers were ranked as high as #8 on the AP Poll before entering a slump, ending the season 17-14 and without a postseason.[13]
[edit] Texas A&M
[edit] 2007–08 season
After former head men's basketball coach Billy Gillispie left Texas A&M to coach at Kentucky, Turgeon was immediately hired as head coach on April 10, 2007.[2] Turgeon acquired all of Gillispie's recruits for the 2007–08 season, including 5 star-rated DeAndre Jordan. The Aggies started the season ranked 14th in the preseason Coaches Poll. Once the season progressed, they won the 2007 NIT Season Tip-Off to extend their winning streak to 7–0. They would lose their first game of the season to unranked Arizona, compiling a 7–1 record after the loss. After the Arizona game, they would then win eight straight home games against unranked opponents. Team performance spiraled down once conference play had begun, losing three straight unranked teams—at Texas Tech, at Michael Beasley-led Kansas State, and at home to Baylor. The Baylor game took five overtimes, becoming the longest game in Big 12 history. The Aggies could post wins at their next five matchups, including one over the 10th-ranked rival Texas Longhorns and three away games. They then regressed, losing to Oklahoma State and Nebraska at home. Another high point came when they defeated Texas Tech 98–54 at home, matching their highest margin of victory in school history (set in 1959 against Texas).[14] The Aggies regressed once again, this time losing 64–37 at Oklahoma. The game had marked the worst loss in history since 1967 and had the third-worst shooting percentage (.255) in history. The team also had only one assist and 18 turnovers in the game.[15] After the blowout, the Aggies were able to revenge Baylor in Waco, though came back home to lose their final regular season game to eventual national champion Kansas to finish 8-8 in conference play. The team received a No. 6 bid to the Big 12 tournament, defeating Iowa State and Kansas State in the first two rounds, but lost to Kansas again in the semifinals. With their 24–10 record after the Big 12 tournament, the Aggies received a No. 9 at-large bid to the West Regional of the NCAA tournament. In the first round, they defeated 8th-seeded BYU 67–62 at Anaheim. In the second round, they faced UCLA at the same site, though allowed them to escape with a close 51–49 win.[16] The Aggies finished the season with a 25–11 record. The 25 wins matches the record for most wins by a first-year coach at a Big 12 school, set by former Texas coach Tom Penders in the 1988–89 season.[17]
[edit] Coaching style
Mark Turgeon coaches a man-on-man defensive style, with occasional zone, and a guard oriented offense.[18] Although he is known for his intense competitiveness and desire to win, Turgeon treats his players well, with some even saying they see him as a sort of father figure, as opposed to just a coach.[6]
[edit] Coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville State Gamecocks (Trans America Athletic Conference) (1998 — 2000) | |||||||||
| 1998–1999 | Jacksonville State | 8–18 | 3–13 | T–10th | |||||
| 1999–2000 | Jacksonville State | 17–11 | 12–6 | T–3rd | |||||
| Jacksonville State: | 25–29 | 15–19 | |||||||
| Wichita State Shockers (Missouri Valley Conference) (2000 — 2007) | |||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Wichita State | 9–19 | 4–14 | 9th | |||||
| 2001–2002 | Wichita State | 15–15 | 9–9 | T–5th | |||||
| 2002–2003 | Wichita State | 18–12 | 12–6 | T–3rd | NIT Opening Round | ||||
| 2003–2004 | Wichita State | 21–11 | 12–6 | T–2nd | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2004–2005 | Wichita State | 22–10 | 12–6 | 2nd | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 2005–2006 | Wichita State | 26–9 | 14–4 | 1st | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 2006–2007 | Wichita State | 17–14 | 8–10 | 6th | |||||
| Wichita State: | 128–90 | 71–55 | |||||||
| Texas A&M Aggies (Big 12 Conference) (2007 — present) | |||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Texas A&M | 25–11 | 8–8 | 6th | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| Texas A&M: | 25–11 | 8–8 | |||||||
| Total: | 178–130 | ||||||||
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National Champion Conference Champion Conference Tournament Champion |
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[edit] References
- ^ Wichita State's Turgeon to coach Aggies. ESPN.com (April 10, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
- ^ a b Texas A&M University Athletic Department (April 10, 2007). "Turgeon Named Texas A&M Men's Basketball Coach". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
- ^ Dean, Rick (April 8, 2006). A Whirlwind stretch for Turgeon's mom. The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
- ^ Mark Turgeon Bio. KU Sports (2003). Retrieved on 2007-04-12.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Mark Turgeon. Wichita State University (October 19, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
- ^ a b c Posnanski, Joe (December 12, 2006). Turgeon finds a home at Wichita State. The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
- ^ Scarbinsky, Kevin. "Final Four brings back good, bad memories for ex-Jax State coach Turgeon", The Birmingham News, 2008-04-05. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
- ^ Jimenez, Tony (November 10, 2001). Turgeon starts year No. 2 at WSU. The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
- ^ a b c Dean, Rick (March 18, 2006). Turgeon's hustle pays off in WSU's banner year. Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
- ^ Shockers Top Patriots, 72-66 - Wichita State University Shockers. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
- ^ WSU Defeats No. 6 LSU, 57-73 - Wichita State University Shockers. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
- ^ Wichita State Squeezes Past Orange, 64-61 - Wichita State University Shockers. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
- ^ Suellentrop, Paul (April 9, 2007). Texas A&M eyes WSU's Turgeon. The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
- ^ Davis, Brian. "Texas A&M snaps losing skid in win over Texas Tech", Dallas Morning News, 2008-02-28. Retrieved on 2008-02-28.
- ^ "Aggies report: Notes, quotes", The Sports Xchange, CBS Sports, 2008-03-03. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
- ^ Miller, John. "Last-second loss to UCLA mirrored much of season", Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2008-03-24. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
- ^ "WEST REGION", Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2008-03-21. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
- ^ Mark Turgeon Press Conference Transcript. Texas A&M Athletic Department (2007-04-10). Retrieved on 2007-04-14.
[edit] External links
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