Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Mark Turgeon in at Maryland

I am going to try to get a few different posts up today,in order to make up for the missed time recently.
I will do just a makeup Pirate post and then attempt to return to game coverage with tonight's game.

The hiring of Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon as the new bench boss with the University of Maryland is the sort of non-flashy hire that seems to be taking the ACC by storm as schools revamp their programs.
From Wake Forest's Jeff Bzdelik and Clemson's Brad Brownell last season and this season's tapping of Mark Gottfried at N.C.State and then Turgeon by the Terps,the ACC is avoiding the big name coaches that instantly turn on a fan base...

Mark Turgeon might be the best of the bunch though as he has established two programs as strong contenders in their conferences.
Wichita State is a basketball school that had been slumping in recent years,Turgeon breathed new life into the Shockers and they have been among the best in the Missouri Valley ever since.
Billy Gillispie built Texas A&M,but Turgeon has been able to maintain the success there at a school that has never been a hoops giant.
I love the fact that Turgeon comes from the Larry Brown tree of coaching as my opinion is that Larry Brown is the basketball genius of my lifetime,so if Larry Brown thinks that highly of someone-my attention is always gotten right away.
Turgeon played for Brown at Kansas and was an NBA assistant for Brown as well,giving him a terrific background to draw from.

Turgeon has been noted for some less than exciting teams and for being far from the best public relations coach around,but Terrapin fans can live with that,but one key will determine the future of Mark Turgeon at Maryland-Can he mine the Baltimore/Washington area for the talent that more often than now left Maryland for other basketball horizons?
If Turgeon can do that,Maryland has hired themselves a winner and Turgeon has incentive as well.
Build Maryland into the power that tradition demands and put himself in the position to eventually land his dream job down the road-Kansas.....

Photo Credit-Mike Yoder

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