OKLAHOMA CITY ? Mark Turgeon would rather coach in the NCAA Tournament than watch it.
“Our season was great,” Turgeon, Wichita State’s basketball coach, said Saturday at Ford Center, where he watched Kansas University take on Arizona State in the second round of the West Regional. “I’m happy my wife and I can do something like this and see a lot of good KU people we haven’t seen in a long time.”
Turgeon and his wife, Anne, are both “KU people.” Turgeon played guard at KU for coach Larry Brown 1983-87, was a student assistant on Brown’s national title team in 1988 and was an aide to coach Roy Williams 1989-92. Anne was a team manager.
Turgeon and his wife sat behind KU’s bench Saturday, next to former teammate Kevin Pritchard. Mark Turgeon also must have worn out his wrist, shaking hands with countless old friends such as former KU athletic director Bob Frederick.
Turgeon hadn’t been to a Kansas game since the Jayhawks celebrated their 100th year of basketball in 1998. The Topeka native has been busy building his own program.
Wichita State (18-12) finished its season with a 76-65 loss Wednesday at Iowa State in the first round of the NIT.
“It was great for us to get in the postseason and have a few extra days of practice,” he said. “It gave us confidence to play in the postseason. We played our tails off; we just weren’t good enough to get it done.”
Wichita State was good enough to give the WSU faithful hope for the future. The Shockers’ 18 victories were their most since 1989, and their 12 Missouri Valley Conference wins were the most since 1982. The Shockers, who lose one senior, finished third in the MVC.
“The media will probably pick us first in the league next year,” said Turgeon, whose starting lineup included three sophomores, a freshman and a senior. “I hope we’re ready for it.”
WSU also will move into renovated Koch Arena next season.
“I walked through it the other day,” Turgeon said, ” and it gave me goosebumps.”
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Waiting game: Pritchard, who still lives in Lawrence, hopes to be coaching next season after a year off.
Pritchard posted a 59-21 record in two seasons with the Kansas City Knights, who won their final 25 games en route to the ABA championship in 2002. But the pro league struggled financially and closed down for the 2003 season.
“It’s been real tough,” said Pritchard, who played for KU from 1986-90. “I love coaching. That’s what I want to do.”
Knights owner Jim Clark bought a majority interest in the ABA and hopes to have seven or eight teams resume play in November. The league plans to have meetings next week in Indianapolis.
“We should have an announcement in the next 90 days,” said Pritchard, who also is the team’s general manager.
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Owens an Okie: No Kansas fan could have been happier to have the Jayhawks in Oklahoma City than former coach Ted Owens.
“It’s exciting,” said Owens, a partner in a money management firm in Tulsa. “I’ve been really lucky.”
Owens compiled a record of 348-182 with the Jayhawks from 1964 to 83 with Final Four trips in 1971 and ’74. He later coached Oral Roberts University in Tulsa 1985-87 and coached pro basketball overseas before taking a job as athletic director at St. Leo University in Florida in 1995.
Owens returned to Tulsa to enter private business a year and a half ago.
“It’s been terrific,” he said. “I’m close to Stillwater, Norman and not too far from Lawrence. I have loved being back in the middle of great basketball.”
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Talent scout: Former KU assistant coach Ed Manning scouted both games Saturday at Ford Center for the Memphis Grizzlies. Manning, who was an aide to Brown at KU from 1984 to 1988, is in his fourth year with the NBA franchise.
Manning, the father of former KU All-American Danny Manning, lives in San Antonio and scouts the Southwest. He has grown accustomed to watching the Jayhawks from the stands, instead of the bench.
“I’m used to it,” he said. “All you do is watch the players and write down what they can do. I’ve seen these kids through the years.”
