coach Mark Turgeon - BIO

Position: Head Coach

Alma Mater: Kansas '87
Experience: 5 Years

Mark Turgeon is entering his fifth season at the helm of the University of Maryland men’s basketball team.

Turgeon is active in the College Park community and has hosted the Coaches vs. Cancer Season Tip-Off Breakfast in conjunction with the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches the past four years. Over the past two seasons, Turgeon worked with the Infiniti Coaches Charity Challenge to raise money and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association.

Maryland posted a school-record 26 during the regular season in 2014-15 and notched 28 total, an eight-game improvement from its 17 victories during the 2013-14 season. The 11-game win total was the second-highest improvement among all Power Five schools. Maryland also advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. 

Maryland cracked the Associated Press poll Top 10 for first time since Feb. 3, 2003 – a span of 12 seasons - and has been ranked in the AP poll for 14 consecutive weeks, the longest such streak since 2002-03.

The Terps finished their inaugural season in the Big Ten with a perfect 9-0 home record, which included victories against then-No. 5 Wisconsin, Michigan State and Indiana. Overall, Maryland concluded with an 18-1 home mark at XFINITY Center.

Maryland’s 14-1 record in 2014-15 marked its best start in 18 years (1996-97). Turgeon posted 25 or more wins in a season for the fourth time in his career.

Since arriving in College Park, Turgeon has signed four consecutive nationally-ranked recruiting classes, including the ninth-ranked class in 2014. . He played a lead role in signing center Diamond Stone (Milwaukee, Wisc.) – a McDonald’s All-American who was rated as a consensus top 10 player by a myriad of national recruiting services. 

In 2013, he captured his 300th career victory with an 85-74 defeat of Tulsa on Dec. 29, before leading the Terps to a thrilling overtime win against No. 5 Virginia in Maryland’s final ACC regular season game.

Turgeon’s winning percentage of .600 (42-28) was the best mark by a Maryland coach in his first two seasons, ahead of Bud Millikan (.592) and Gary Williams (.574). After bringing in a top-15 recruiting class in 2012, he led the Terrapins to a 25-13 record (most wins in six seasons) and appearances in the ACC Tournament semifinals and the NIT semifinals in 2012-13.

Turgeon has led his teams to a winning season in 14 of his 17 seasons, including a current streak of 13 consecutive winning seasons.

Turgeon directed Maryland to three wins over a ranked team in 2012-13 after Maryland had gone two seasons without one. The Terps were the only team in the nation to beat Duke twice, while also knocking off then-14th ranked NC State at home in January. Maryland’s win over Duke at home on Feb. 16 was its first over a No. 1 ranked opponent in five years.

Turgeon, who came to College Park after directing Texas A&M to four consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament, led Maryland to a 17-15 record in 2011-12. At A&M, he posted a 97-40 record in four seasons and was named the Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year in both 2010 and 2011. He is the only coach in Big 12 history with at least 24 victories in each of his four seasons.

Turgeon is 337-208 through 18 seasons overall as a head coach. In seven years at Wichita State, he built the Shockers into a power in the Missouri Valley Conference, earning the league title and an NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2006. In that NCAA Tournament, Wichita State beat Seton Hall and Tennessee before losing to eventual Final Four participant George Mason.

Four of Turgeon’s former players are currently playing in the NBA: Donald Sloan (Brooklyn Nets), Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks), DeAndre Jordan (Los Angeles Clippers) and Alex Len (Phoenix Suns). In addition, Len was selected in the first round (fifth overall) by the Suns in the 2013 NBA Draft.

Turgeon amassed a 128-89 record at Wichita State (2000-07), posting the third-most wins in school history. The Shockers advanced to three straight NITs from 2003 to 2005 in addition to the 2006 NCAAs, the first time WSU had four straight postseason appearances in 40 years.

He began his head-coaching career at Jacksonville State, going 17-11 in his final season there (1999-2000) after going 8-18 in his first year.

Turgeon was an assistant at Kansas for five seasons, first under Larry Brown (1987-88) and then under Roy Williams (1988-92). The Jayhawks made the NCAA Tournament in four of those seasons, winning the national championship in 1988 and finishing second in 1991. KU also won Big Eight titles in 1991 and 1992 with Turgeon on staff.

He was the top assistant under Jerry Green at Oregon from 1992-97 and was an assistant coach under Brown with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1997-98 before taking the head coaching position at Jacksonville State.

A point guard at Kansas from 1984-87, Turgeon was the first player in Jayhawks history to play in four straight NCAA Tournaments. KU went 108-33 under Brown in that stretch. Turgeon served as team captain in his junior and senior seasons, leading the Jayhawks to the 1986 NCAA Final Four.

As a student-athlete, he was selected to the Big Eight All-Academic Team in 1986 and was a Big Eight All-Freshman pick in 1984. He earned a bachelor of science degree in personnel administration from Kansas in 1987.

A native of Topeka, Kan., Turgeon led Hayden High School to back-to-back Class 4A state titles in 1982 and 1983, earning all-tournament honors each year. A first team all-state pick as a senior, Hayden went 47-3 in his high-school career.

In the summer of 2008, Turgeon was inducted into the Topeka Sports Hall of Fame. He was honored as the 2015 Kansan of the Year in June, 2015. 

Turgeon (“TURGE-in”) is married to the former Ann Fowler of Chicago, Ill, and they have two sons - William Harris and Leo - and a daughter, Ella.