Spring Break
Courting a coach
After visit to A&M, news conference set
By: John Farmer
Issue date: 4/10/07 Section: News
 THE WICHITA (KAN.) EAGLE |
After the agony that Aggie fans endured when basketball head coach Billy Gillispie left for Kentucky, Texas A&M Athletic Director Bill Byrne worked quickly to alleviate some of the pain.
Mark Turgeon, the head coach of the Wichita State Shockers, visited the A&M campus Monday and is expected to become A&M's next head coach. A&M Associate Athletic Director Alan Cannon said a news conference is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Reed Arena, when Byrne will announce the next head coach. Fans are encouraged to attend and watch the news conference on the big screens.
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Turgeon, a former point guard at Kansas, was a reserve on the 1986 team that advanced to the Final Four. A year after graduating from college, he worked as an assistant coach under Larry Brown for Kansas. When Brown left, he stayed as an assistant for Roy Williams.
From 1992-97, Turgeon was an assistant at the University of Oregon, where he met Bill Byrne for the first time. He later transitioned into the NBA as an assistant under Larry Brown's Philadelphia 76ers in 1997. He stayed till 1998, when he accepted a position as the head coach of Jacksonville State.
Turgeon was brought in as the head coach for Wichita State in 2000. In the 2005-2006 season, his team finished the year 26-9, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen and knocking out No. 2 seed Tennessee before losing to George Mason.
In the 2006-07 season, the Wichita State Shockers finished the season, 17-14. The Shockers started the season 9-0 with road victories over LSU, Syracuse and George Mason. Throughout the season, injuries affected four of their starters.
Throughout these successes, Turgeon has stayed humble. When asked how he does it, he references his high school coach.
"Coach Ben Meseke taught us a lot: God first, family second, academics third and basketball fourth, " Turgeon said in an interview with The Leaven, the newspaper for the Kansas City archdiocese. "He preached that all the time for us."
In this interview, Turgeon said that his faith and family have helped him cope with the stress of coaching and maintain his poise and confidence on the biggest stage in college basketball.
A number of A&M students have expressed their excitement over the possibility of Turgeon replacing Gillispie as the head coach.
"Apparently, he did a lot of good things for Wichita State," said Ryan Seely, a freshman business major. "His ties with Roy Williams and Larry Brown should be helpful in keeping our current recruits. Hopefully all of this will carry over and keep our program moving in the right direction."
Katie Hainline, a freshman international studies major, said she is pleased with the decisive action that Byrne has taken.
"Bringing in a good coach is certainly a breath of fresh air to me," Hainline said. "Considering how we all felt last week, just knowing that this is being attended is reassuring. If Byrne thinks that Turgeon is our man, then gig 'em Coach T."
However, other students have expressed frustration that Byrne did not bring in a bigger name.
"I'm not too confident on this hire," said Will Mitchell, a freshman business major. "But, if he really does become our coach, I am behind him 120 percent."
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