Mark Turgeon

Mark Turgeon
Born	(1965-02-05) February 5, 1965 Topeka, Kansas, U.S.
Occupation	College basketball coach
Years active	1987–2021
Known for	Head coach at Jacksonville State, Wichita State, Texas A&M, Maryland

Mark Leo Turgeon (born February 5, 1965) is an American basketball coach at the collegiate level. His head coaching career includes tenures at Jacksonville State University (1998–2000), Wichita State (2000–2007), Texas A&M (2007–2011), and Maryland (2011–2021).

Personal

Originating from Topeka, Kansas, Turgeon is one of five siblings. He completed his secondary education at Hayden High School and later obtained a bachelor's degree in personnel administration from the University of Kansas in 1987. He is married to Ann Fowler, whom he met during his time at KU, and together they have three children.

Playing career

During his high school years at Hayden High School, Turgeon was instrumental in achieving a 47–3 record and securing back-to-back Class 4A state championships in 1982 and 1983. He was honored with All-State Tournament recognition in both championship years.

Standing at just 5 feet 10 inches after high school, Turgeon earned a basketball scholarship to the University of Kansas, where he played under coach Larry Brown. He made history as the first KU player to participate in four straight NCAA tournaments. As a backup point guard on the 1985–86 squad, he contributed to winning the Big Eight Conference regular season and tournament championships and advancing to the Final Four in the 1986 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. That season concluded with a 35–4 record. Turgeon captained the team in both 1986 and 1987, earned a spot on the Big Eight All-Freshmen Team in 1984, and received Big Eight All-Academic accolades in 1986. Nicknamed "The Surgeon," he was noted for his skill in dismantling opposing defenses.

Following his freshman season, coach Brown advised Turgeon that an NBA playing career was improbable and recommended pursuing coaching instead. Turgeon embraced this guidance, with Brown involving him in strategic discussions during games, though often opting for alternative tactics.

Early positions

Upon graduating from Kansas in 1987, Turgeon immediately joined Larry Brown’s coaching staff as an assistant. In his inaugural coaching year, he played a role in Kansas capturing the 1988 NCAA championship, led by National Player of the Year Danny Manning.

Turgeon remained on staff when Roy Williams took over in 1989, additionally overseeing the junior varsity team. During this era, Kansas secured back-to-back Big Eight Conference regular season titles in 1991 and 1992, along with the conference tournament championship in 1992.

In 1992, Turgeon accepted the position of lead assistant under new University of Oregon head coach Jerry Green, himself a former Kansas assistant. Over five seasons at Oregon, the Ducks reached their first NCAA tournament berth in 34 years (1995), advanced to the 1997 NIT, and recorded three consecutive winning seasons for the first time in two decades. As recruiting coordinator starting in 1995, Turgeon assembled a class ranked 35th nationally and secured two top-100 recruits the following year.

Turgeon briefly departed collegiate coaching in 1997 to reunite with Larry Brown as an assistant coach for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers for one season after Green left Oregon for Tennessee.

Jacksonville State

Turgeon launched his head coaching journey in 1998 at Jacksonville State University in Alabama. His inaugural season concluded with an 8–18 record, placing the team in a tie for 10th within the Trans America Conference. In the subsequent year, the squad showed significant progress, achieving a 17–11 overall record and 12–6 in conference contests, which earned them a third-place finish.

Wichita State

Following the 1999–2000 campaign, Turgeon returned to his native state to take over as head coach of the Wichita State Shockers, a program that had experienced only two winning seasons over the previous eleven years. His debut season ended with a 9–19 record, though many defeats were narrowly decided. The next year, the Shockers improved to a balanced 15–15 record, marking their best performance in four seasons. Over the subsequent three years, the team continued to develop steadily, securing invitations to the National Invitation Tournament in 2003, 2004, and 2005.

In 2006, Wichita State captured the Missouri Valley Conference title for the first time since 1983 and earned a berth in the 2006 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, their first appearance since 1988. The Shockers convincingly defeated Seton Hall by 20 points in the opening round and then upset second-seeded Tennessee to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in a quarter-century before being eliminated by George Mason, who would go on to reach the Final Four.

The Shockers began the 2006–2007 season with an impressive 9–0 start, including road victories against George Mason, LSU, and Syracuse. They climbed as high as #8 in the AP Poll but concluded the season with a 17–14 record and did not participate in any postseason tournaments.

2007–08 season

After former head coach Billy Gillispie departed Texas A&M for Kentucky, Turgeon was appointed on April 10, 2007. He retained all of Gillispie's recruits for the 2007–08 season, including five-star prospect DeAndre Jordan. The Aggies entered the season ranked 14th in the preseason Coaches Poll.

Texas A&M captured the 2007 NIT Season Tip-Off, extending their winning streak to seven games before falling to unranked Arizona. This was followed by eight consecutive home victories against unranked opponents. However, conference play proved challenging as they endured three straight losses, including a historic five-overtime defeat to Baylor, marking the longest game in Big 12 history. The Aggies bounced back with five wins, highlighted by a triumph over tenth-ranked rival Texas Longhorns and three victories on the road.

Subsequent setbacks against Oklahoma State and Nebraska were balanced by an emphatic 98–54 win over Texas Tech, equaling the largest margin of victory ever recorded by the program. The team then suffered a severe loss at Oklahoma—their worst since 1967—shooting just .255 from the field and recording only one assist while committing eighteen turnovers. They avenged their earlier loss to Baylor but ended regular-season play with a defeat at the hands of eventual national champion Kansas, finishing with an even 8–8 conference record.

Secured as the No. 6 seed in the Big 12 tournament, Texas A&M overcame Iowa State and Kansas State before being eliminated by Kansas in the semifinals. With an overall record of 24–10, they received a No. 9 at-large bid to compete in the West Regional of the NCAA tournament. The Aggies edged out No. 8 seed BYU 67–62 in Anaheim but were narrowly defeated by UCLA 51–49 in the second round. They closed out the season at 25–11, matching the Big 12 record for most wins by a first-year head coach.

2008–09 season

Starting the season without a ranking, Turgeon's Aggies had senior Josh Carter honored with a preseason All-Big 12 honorable mention. After an impressive 14–1 run in non-conference games, the team encountered difficulties early in Big 12 competition but rebounded to finish the regular season at 23–8, securing significant victories over Texas, Nebraska, and #12 Missouri. Their Big 12 tournament journey ended with a first-round loss to Texas Tech. Awarded a #9 seed in the NCAA Tournament's West Regional, Texas A&M triumphed over BYU once more before being eliminated by #1 seed and eventual Final Four contender Connecticut. The Aggies wrapped up with a 24–10 record, while Turgeon's 49 wins over two seasons established a new Big 12 record for coaches in their initial years. Junior Derrick Roland was recognized on the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. Additionally, Turgeon's recruiting class for 2013 earned a #25 national ranking from ESPN.

Maryland

Prior to his final campaign at Texas A&M, Turgeon secured an extension and salary raise. Nevertheless, on May 9, 2011, he accepted the head coaching role at the University of Maryland, motivated by Maryland's rich basketball heritage and an intuitive conviction. He described this choice as his most challenging due to his commitment to his players and clarified that attendance figures at A&M did not influence his decision.

Upon his arrival, Maryland students enthusiastically adopted the slogan "Fear the Turgeon," a twist on the university's motto "Fear the Turtle," with some fans even forming a group called the "Turgeonites." Turgeon achieved his inaugural victory as Maryland’s head coach on November 13, 2011, against UNC Wilmington.

During his initial three seasons, Turgeon guided Maryland to one postseason berth, reaching the NIT Semifinals in 2013. In 2015, he earned the distinction of Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year after leading Maryland to a 14–4 record within the conference. The following season (2015–16), his squad advanced to the Sweet 16 in the 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, defeating South Dakota State and Hawaii as a #5 seed.

On February 19, 2019, Maryland secured a road victory over #21 Iowa—the program’s first win away against a ranked opponent since 2008—and marked Turgeon's first such achievement since 2006 with Wichita State.

On December 3, 2021, Turgeon and Maryland mutually agreed to conclude their partnership, ending his nearly eleven-year tenure as head coach.

External links

• Maryland profile