Advertisement

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

A&M to tap Turgeon

By J-W Staff and Wire Reports

Advertisement

College Station, Texas — Wichita State basketball coach Mark Turgeon today will be introduced as Bill Gillispie's successor at Texas A&M, according to published reports.

Texas A&M called an afternoon news conference for today, hours after former Kansas University guard Turgeon visited the Aggies' campus.

Turgeon toured the Texas A&M campus Monday with athletic director Bill Byrne, who scrambled to begin a coaching search last week after Gillispie turned down a raise to take the Kentucky job.

The scoreboard inside Reed Arena at Texas A&M on Monday flashed "Welcome to Aggieland Mark and Ann Turgeon," according to the Bryan-College Station Eagle and the San Antonio Express-News.

Wichita State senior Matt Braeuer told The Wichita Eagle that he and teammates were under the impression that Turgeon was leaving.

"That's basically what I've heard," Braeuer said. "No coaches have told us anything. (But) from a few other sources, from what I've heard, it's a done deal."

The 42-year-old Turgeon has been at Wichita State for seven seasons, leading the Shockers to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament in 2006 as a No. 7 seed.

Turgeon is 128-90 since arriving at Wichita State in 1999.

KU coach Bill Self on Monday was asked about Turgeon taking over at A&M.

"I think it is a great hire for A&M and great for Mark," Self said. "He'll walk into a situation certainly better than it was (at A&M) a few years ago. I'm sure he'll do well. A&M goes from being very disappointed five days ago to very happy today."

Former KU player Mark Turgeon announced as new Texas A&M coach

Mark Turgeon has spent the last seven years coaching at Wichita State but will now be headed South to coach Texas A&M.

Of Turgeon going against KU, Self said: "It'll probably be stranger for him since he played here. I only coached 'Turg' one year (as grad assistant in 1986). He played enough that I didn't work with him as much. I worked with guys that didn't play much."

More like this

Comments

kjhkcapn (anonymous) says...

I sure wish we would have picked up a true coaching talent like Tugeon when we had the chance...

April 10, 2007 at 11:25 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

kufan1975 (anonymous) says...

shut up you friggin idiot

April 10, 2007 at 11:47 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

sevenyearhawk (anonymous) says...

My wife text messaged this to me this morning ...

yes - you all know, i've been the biggest Mark Turgeon proponent ... i am absolutely crushed by this news!

I was holding out some glimmer of hope that KU might call Coach Turg home ... I guess when they extended Coach Self's contract I should have seen the writing on the wall.

A&M will do great things, they have shown like Texas, Florida and an Ohio St U that they are getting serious about hoops ...

***

kjhkcapn, not sure if you're serious or sarcastic, but *I* also believe that this Kansas program will regret not having further pursued Coach Tugeon ... and that Self will NEVER deliver a national title.

April 10, 2007 at 12:03 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhawker137 (anonymous) says...

Congrats to Turgeon. I hope that he can put together a full season with A&M, not just go out in preseason and make a showing but really try this time in League play. This is the true test to see if Turgeon can hack it in the big leagues, some how I doubt it, compared to Coach Self, Turgeon is not in his league, YET. I say YET. Good luck to you, Turgeon, prove me wrong, prove me wrong.
I hate people like you, sevenyearhawk & kjhkcapn, that make us bash on one of our own to defend our coach.

I cannot believe that you people, think that Bill Self cannot deliver a national championship, Illinois made one hell of a run at it, almost an undefeated season with Bill's kids. You guys make me sick. When Coach Self finally brings a championship home to Kansas, I want to see the look on all of you nay-sayers, as the true Kansas faithful stick their mind finger right in your wagon hopping faces.

April 10, 2007 at 12:44 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

sevenyearhawk (anonymous) says...

How many times has Coach Self been to the Final Four -
that's right: never!

I will eat my shorts when he delivers a national title to Kansas ... and it will likely take place at a Johnny's in KC and be aired on AM610 by Neal and Marty ...

(if you listen to KC sportsradio, you know I'm on there a lot)

anybody else want to make a wager like that?!?

April 10, 2007 at 12:55 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Strikewso (anonymous) says...

Turgeon is one of the best coaches in the country, A&M is getting a better deal than UK, a much better deal! I can't believe how lucky they are to get him. I'm surprised KState didn't take a shot, even though he never would have gone there. After all, he is a KU guy and will always be.

For the record, I have been a proponent of Turgeon since he was a grad assistant at KU. This is great for the Big 12, which helps us.

Hopefully Self can win us a title, but if not I'll be rooting for A&M, too in March.

April 10, 2007 at 1:30 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jayhawkerjoel (anonymous) says...

I really wish you Self haters would mellow out. I too wish Turg all the luck in the world, but this idea that he was/is a better option for KU than Self is silly. Yes, I agree that in hindsight Self made some questionable coaching decisions (esp. during the A&M game), but he didn't miss all those bunnies during the UCLA game. How deep has Turg ever gone? How many Big Macs has Turg recruited? I won't say that Self was the only coach who could be successful at KU after Roy, but no one has shown that there were any better coaches for KU than Self. KU could have easily got a "Tubby Smith" who refuses to recruit the best players and then wilts under the alumni pressure to win.

April 10, 2007 at 1:54 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

RockerBabe (anonymous) says...

We are never going to win another National Championship as long as key players are drafted prematurly into the NBA. Players are just using universities as stepping stones and are marking time until they can be drafted into the NBA.

Until the rules change or we recruit players who are more interested in a National Championship than the lure of money and fame the NBA can offer them, we can kiss a National Championship goodbye! How in the hell can we compete with what an NBA player can make in one year? What can a university offer these players to make it worthwhile for them to stay? Think about it.

The players don't come here because they are loyal and have had aspirations of being a Jayhawk all their lives. No, they are here to do their thing until they are drafted to the NBA.

IF we are ever going to win a championship we will have to do it within the freshman and sophomore years of the players. Otherwise they are not going to stay around for graduation. Those who are not good enough for the NBA will stay while the rest will go. This is the cold, hard facts and even though we don't like it, that is the way is.

April 10, 2007 at 3:03 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

sevenyearhawk (anonymous) says...

Now there is no doubt that Self is one heckuva recruiter ... so he can get the talent to win in those early years.

i don't want our former coach back - if someone doesn't want to be here, we don't need them.

Let me explain it like I've explained to others:

Where did Tubby Smith's son play hoops: kentucky

Where did Kelvin Sampon's son play hoops: oklahoma

Where did Bob Knight's son play hoops: indiana

Where did Roy Williams son go: north carolina!

Roy was never fully committed to this place, no mater what he says - and any of you who said you're glad he won a title at UNC are full of it - would you be glad to see your ex-spouse win the freaking lottery?!? NO!!!

***

What I liked about Coach Turgeon was they he was a KANSAS man - just like Our Former Coach going to UNC, and Huggins to WVU, etc etc ...

Kansas needs to cultivate a coaching pipeline - and Self's connection is too tenuous. I never liked him from the beginning - I have documentation to back this up.

I'm not someone who jumped on him after the two first round exits, that just made it worse.

And finally - I will give Our Former Coach this - he took a team to the national title game in his third season - just three removed from a probation year.

Coach Self had a roster full of players that had been to TWO Final Fours and we're an overtime away from a third (that was Aaron Miles fault for bungling the dribble, I know)

But I don't think Self has the Xs and Os to get over the hump - he's like Dungy or Schottenheimer or any of thoes other "haven't won the big one yet"

I hope to be proved wrong someday and you can ALL come to Kansas City and watch SevenYearHawk eat his own shorts!!!

April 10, 2007 at 3:55 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

KUAlum2000 (anonymous) says...

Dungy won the SB this year, FYI...

April 10, 2007 at 4:34 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

hskrbkr (anonymous) says...

Turgeon is 18 games over .500 in seven years a WSU...playing in the Valley. Hardly sounds like the second coming of Phog Allen to me. Self bashers crying over this guy not getting hired to coach KU should think about getting over it.

April 10, 2007 at 4:49 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Dr_Hawkenstein (anonymous) says...

Uh, stop the Dungy comparisons. In case you didn't know, he was the head coach of the Colts last year and they won a little game called the Super Bowl.

All this talk about Self never winning a championship is just dumb. How the hell does anyone know what will happen? Now, if you want to say that they won't win next year, fine. But "never" is a long time and nobody knows what the team will look like 4-5 years from now. It could be better, it could be worse, but nobody, NOBODY!, can say for sure.

5 years ago, who would have said that Donovan would definately win back-to-back championships in his career at Florida? The obvious answer is; nobody. As you can see, a lot can change in a few years so let's just take the seasons (and really the games) one at a time, shall we?

April 10, 2007 at 4:49 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jcp (anonymous) says...

turgeon is a good coach. but the championship seekers need to chill out a bit. dean smith took how long? oh yes, 21 years. and how many times did KU beg him to come back during that time? Boeheim (who I cannot stand) took 27... Wooden, 19. Calhoun 13 - and these all at their schools where they won championships. Now, is Self in this league, probably not, but those of you who expect a coach to come in and win a championship in quick fashion need to have some perspective.

April 10, 2007 at 11:48 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

After Wichita and College Station, I sure hope Turg gets to jump to a garden spot on his next gig. His family has to be wondering what success really means, when they get rewarded with College Station. :-)

April 11, 2007 at 12:24 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

crimsoninracine (anonymous) says...

It's hard to believe this is a KU forum! I've read so many negative comments in the last few days. Where are the fans? Where are the loyal Jayhawks partisans? Rock Chalk forever! Who cares who the players are? Who cares who the coach is? It still says "Kansas" on the front of the jerseys! They still play in the Field House! And, they are still the Kansas Jayhawks! I'm with them every step of the way, win or lose, until the end. Why would I cheer for any other team? I'm a Jay, Jay, Jay, Jay, Jayhawk...

April 11, 2007 at 9:16 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

sevenyearhawk (anonymous) says...

Yes Crimsoninracine (nice name by the way),

I feel the same way about my comments as I do about people who question the Federal government ...

[an analogy I've used before]

You can love your country, but fear your government;
you can love your university, but question its athletics.

I gave seven years of my life in college at Kansas, I proudly wear a kansas Wilt Chamberlain jersey (you have no idea how difficult THAT was to find)

I participated in the athletic bands, I take my children to Allen Fieldhouse, Memorial Stadium and Hoglund Ballpark ...

My wife and I own a RED and a BLUE car! (custom plates: 7YR HWK and beak em)

i love the University of Kansas - but just as one can doubt a mayor, governor or president - I have serious doubts about Coach Self, I'm giving Coach Mangino one more year (I've been an ardent supporter of his) and I'm a big supporter of Coach Henrickson ...

What's that saying: this hurts me more than it hurts you?

April 11, 2007 at 12:01 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ralsterKUMed95 (anonymous) says...

So, the team loses and the naysayers are out in full-force to cut down their own coach, the team, etc. I suppose Dookie fans and UNC fans are "going after" their coaches & own team right now too?? Thanks for showing the rest of us a glimpse of your personalities, specfically the 'sore-loser' part. SURE it hurts to lose, then watch the Final4 and just 'know' that KU could have beaten any of those teams. The only consolation I have is to analyze that UCLA game and move on. I watched it again a week ago and saw it unravel after the first 15min. We left 14pts (I counted) on the floor because team could not hit 55%FG on LAYUPS & putbacks, and also if we had hit maybe 2 more FTs. The players got away from what brought them that far: driving and passing--remember all season we saw them sometimes pass too much, and vs. UCLA, we tried to do it 1on1, which has NOT been our style. So what good does it do to blame the coach? I saw kids playing hard, playing defense (we turned over UCLA 16-17times also), and attacking the basket about as hard as I have seen a KU team do, but we did not dish in the lane (in rhythm) to the big men, as Darnell Jackson pointed out. Incidentally, did we notice that the 2 juniors (Robinson, and Jackson) had solid games on both ends of the floor, Russ going 2/2 for treys. Bottom line: players got "tight" or rattled. the answer to the loss lies in the tape of that game!!! stop criticizing a 33-5 COACH and your own teams efforts, as the players(KU students) did NOT lose because of a lack of heart or effort. YOU idiots make me sick, NOT the loss anymore!

April 12, 2007 at 11:37 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

ralsterKUMed95 (anonymous) says...

ANY talk of Turgeon simply is SO speculative that it is laughable at this stage of his career, and also insulting to coach Self. I live in Wichita, and saw the collapse of the entire 2nd half of the season. WSU started out this year as a spirited, smallball (no one taller than 6'7") team that hustled, but then lost some games, lost heart + a few injuries, then went SUB-.500 the 2nd half of the season... Mark Turgeon knew his career could not withstand another season such as this one, so based on some credibility from last year's sweet16 appearance, he took his ticket out of town to a bigger school, where he may be able to recruit a somewhat higher caliber of player, and doubled hi$ income, too.

What Turgeon does @ aTm remains to be seen, and as a fellow KU alum, I wish him the best (except when he plays KU), but any talk of someone of his coaching "accomplishments" coaching one of the top 4 or 5 Div1 schools is simply without merit (at THIS point).

Stand back and think a moment: Does anyone really think Turgeon has the credibility that a search committee or ath.director at a Duke, or KU, or UNC, or KY would even seriously consider him right now?? You just sound desparate to start suggesting "anyone" because we lost one game. Like Self is supposed to make every missed layup himself, so he is to blame? Not that it even should be about blame. Our season ended, and we should celebrate a 33-5 season, and with some departures, we sadly bid farewell to another KU bball season. We all got the "expected" result: a trip to the Elite8 where the 8 best teams battle it out, and at that late stage, anyone can beat anyone, almost, and that is what happenned. Out of the Final4, Florida really was the most balanced and focused team, and won it. UCLA was alot like TxA&M--one hot shooter, a couple of role players, and unspectacular bigmen. Their next game was worse than crap.

You want to see some coaching? Let us see what recruits Self brings in to replace the NBAers, how he refocuses the team, and watch the KU machine roll right along. I am very excited to see Arthur come along, especially with D.Manning helping all the bigmen. Our team may have a much more solid inside game. Lets also see if our collective FT-shooting as a team gets better. A lot of this is up to each player and those extra alone times in the gym. The work-ethic for improving basketball skills people like MJordan are famous for. I am certain, sitting and watching the Final4 on TV, our own highly competitive players had some idea who would have won it all if we had gotten past UCLA. Most all of them know what a Natl Championship would mean to KU, AND how each of you feel about it. It also makes for a difficult April and others may chose to just move on (to the NBA)--out of the frying pan, so to speak? So PLEASE, maintain the decorum we are known for, and not sounds of desparation ("Turgeon"). So much intrigue about next year...that's what my focus will be.

April 12, 2007 at 3:11 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

KanKu (anonymous) says...

Self is a good coach.

He brings in very talented players.

I want talented players on my preferred team.

I enjoyed watching Self's teams win the Big 12 title 3 out of 4 years.

I liked watching Self win back-to-back Big 12 title games.

Enjoy what you have in your coach, and shut your whiny mouths. Go root for Roy and Carolina and stop hating on KU's team and coach.

April 12, 2007 at 8:16 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

countryjayhawk (anonymous) says...

Turgeon is a good coach, and i believe he will be auditioning at Texas A&M for the Kansas job. however, i do not see Self getting fired, i see him staying for a long time, so long that by the time he does leave there is other candidates besides turgeon, or he leaves for another school or NBA.

i like Coach Self, i like his players, however i am a little concerned that he will be loading overloading our roster with talent, and these talented guys are looking toward one thing, the NBA. does a national championship mean anything to them? sure it would be nice buts it not worth staying for more than 2 years to get. again im not criticizing Julian or Brandon at all this is meant more toward future recruits Self brings in. but i wouldnt mind seeing Self bring in more guys like Russ Rob who probably wont go to the NBA, but they still make a fine college player, and they have one goal in mind, Final Four and National Championship. Or even guys like my two favorites, Hinrich and Collison, NBA talent, but getting to Final Fours was also very important and they gave everything they had into achieving the Final Fours first.

April 13, 2007 at 1:41 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

countryjayhawk (anonymous) says...

also adding to this, if we think about it after next year, besides for walk ons, senior day could become a rare occassion. thats why i will hate seeing Russell, Darnell, and even Sasha leave

April 13, 2007 at 1:43 a.m. ( | suggest removal )