Turgeon studied Brown like a biology student dissects a frog. He did the same as an assistant to Roy Williams — who took over at Kansas in 1988 — while also taking on the grunt work expected from a young assistant. Among the tasks: selling pizza at basketball camps to augment his entry-level salary ($929 a month after taxes).
“Every year I gave him more responsibility,” Williams says. “He was inquisitive; he wanted to soak up as much knowledge as he could. And when I let him coach our JV team, he was in the dog pile at the middle of the court every time they won.”
As Turgeon tells it, Williams grabbed him by the throat and taught him that a coach’s life is far more difficult than that of a player.
“I was 23 going on about 17 or 18 because I was a spoiled player,” Turgeon said. “Life was easy; life was good. I was a Kansas basketball player! Adored. I hadn’t grown up yet. So I run my office today and treat people the way I want to be treated because of Roy Williams. I work hard because that’s the way I was born. But I also realize, because he taught me, how hard you have to work to be successful in this business.”
Executing the plan
Had Turgeon stayed at Kansas for 15 years, he might have succeeded Williams. But his plan was to become a Division I head coach by age 35 and — after five years on Jerry Green’s staff at Oregon and a season working under Brown with the Philadelphia 76ers — he finally landed a top job in 1998 when he was named head coach at Jacksonville State.
But it was the turnaround he engineered at Wichita State that launched him. After going 24-34 over his first two years, Turgeon’s Shockers reached the postseason in four straight seasons starting in 2002-03, including a Sweet 16 run in the 2006 NCAA tournament.
The move to Texas A&M in 2007 was a major step up in prestige and facilities.
With nearly 50,000 students, Texas A&M so dominates life in College Station that it’s called Aggieland. And nothing dominates the skyline and conversation like Kyle Field, the Aggies’ 83,000-seat football stadium.
Turgeon’s teams were disciplined and prepared, known for unrelenting defense and rebounding. In each of his four seasons, they won at least 24 games and made the NCAA tournament. Yet the basketball team labored in shadow of Aggies football, selling out 12,500-seat Reed Arena for games against Texas and Kansas but struggling to drum up spirited support against lower-profile conference foes.
“There were times when [Turgeon] didn’t understand why we didn’t have a full house,” veteran Aggies basketball broadcaster Dave South said. “We’re still developing a following for basketball. It’s getting stronger every year. But even though we were winning, we were still looking to fill it up.”
That’s partly why Roy Williams urged Turgeon to consider Maryland, where basketball is center stage. Brown flat-out begged him to go, convinced he’ll be able to compete for top recruits and contend for a national championship given the university’s rich basketball tradition.
So when Turgeon left for College Park, few who knew him were shocked.
“This is a guy who knows where he’s going,” said Reilly, the childhood teammate who remains Turgeon’s best friend. “There is nothing wishy-washy. He has confidence in his ability, and success follows.”
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