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making a tournament with Wichita State is an accomplishment in itself.
Not that anybody asked, but I'm a native Wichitan. The good about him is that he headed a shocker program that was the toast of the town last year for the first time since the mid-1980s (somehow wrestling the spotlight away from Gene Stephenson). The bad news is that he only made 1 NCAA tournament (and that had a lot to do with Paul Miller coming out of nowhere to be one of the best big men in the country) - all be it to the sweet 16.
He definitely had his team overachieving when they got to a top 10 ranking (although their two big wins - Syracuse & LSU - didn't look as impressive as the season went on). But they definitely underachieved when they went 8-10 and finished in 6th place in the valley. They had the talent to finish at least 3rd this season.
Folks here won't be crying a river if the Turg leaves, but they can't deny that he put the Shox back on the basketball map either. Personally, I think he's a solid Valley coach, wouldn't want him heading my program in the Big 12 though.
making a tournament with Wichita State is an accomplishment in itself.
Kind of. I only say that because the previous 2 coaches didn't.
WSU really should be competing for a Valley le every year.
In terms of the combination of facilities, fan support, and location proximity to recruiting base, nobody else in the conference can match them.
I know most of you all had probably never heard of Wichita State before last year - except for maybe as a baseball school - but it's not a tiny metro commuter school.
It's not overly difficult to win at Wichita State.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2830344
Updated: April 8, 2007, 11:51 PM ET
Turgeon expected to meet with A&M officials Monday
Texas A&M is leaning toward offering the men's basketball job to Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon to replace Billy Gillispie, multiple sources close to the situation told ESPN.com Sunday night.
Turgeon still needs to agree to the terms of the contract before accepting the position. He is expected to meet with Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne Monday with a possible news conference Tuesday in College Station.
Gillispie left Thursday after three seasons to replace Tubby Smith at Kentucky.
Turgeon led the Shockers to the Sweet 16 two seasons ago after winning the Missouri Valley Conference with a 14-4 record. Turgeon entered this season with a 111-76 record in six seasons at Wichita State.
The Shockers were the preseason pick to be in contention with Southern Illinois and Creighton to win the MVC. It looked like Wichita State was on target to win the league when it made quick work of George Mason, LSU, Syracuse and Wyoming in a brutal stretch of road games in late November and early December.
But the Shockers struggled in the MVC, finishing 8-10 and in sixth place. Wichita state finished the season 17-14 and out of the postseason.
Wichita State made a point of trying to keep Turgeon last season by bumping up his salary close to that of Creighton's Dana Altman. USA Today examined Turgeon's contract raises recently, noting that he went from $200,000 when he was hired in 2000 to a new deal that came in at $750,000 a year ago. That put him close to Altman's nearly $1 million salary, according to USA Today.
Altman accepted the head coaching job at Arkansas last week, only to return to Creighton a day later after feeling uncomfortable leaving Omaha. Turgeon has told ESPN.com on a number of occasions how at peace he is at Wichita State.
But coaching at a school like Texas A&M may be too rich to turn down. The Aggies are fresh off a Sweet 16 appearance, will open a new practice facility next year and have signed one of the top players in the country (DeAndre Jordan).
Assuming the money is guaranteed, which could be in excess of $1.5 million per year if the budget allows since Gillispie was on the verge of making $1.75 million, it would be hard to say no.
The Aggies do lose Acie Law IV at the point but have a core, plus Jordan, to make another potentially second-weekend run in the NCAAs. With his alma mater, Kansas, locked up with Bill Self, it would make sense for Turgeon to get back into the conference in which he played in some fashion.
One of the primary concerns up here has been that WSU's last 2 recruiting classes have been pretty awful. Gal Mekel is really the only underclassmen that has the makings of being a solid player.
I'll qualify that by pointing out that people were excited about the incoming class.
I heard Beasly is honoring his committment to KState.
There have been rumors on the A&M board that one player slept with another player's girlfriend at WSU last year causing major chemistry problems on the team.
Also WSU supposedly had a lot of injuries.
These 2 factors contributed to them falling apart after being ranked in the Top 10.
Not sure where that rumor came from, I actually know a few guys on the team and never heard that.
The Shox really didn't have many injuries. PJ Cuisnard had a case of food poisoning and missed their first two losses of the year, and then he had some wrist problems, but that was about it.
The main problems were lack of a "go-to" scorer. They simply didn't have anybody who could put the ball in the hoop when the chips were down. Turgeon is a great defensive coach. But his offensive sets can drive you nuts.
Another problem was lack of contributions from newcomers. The freshman & sop re classes provided very little this past season. In addition, much was expected from a transfer who only provided mixed results.
The rumors might not be true. I just saw it mentioned on the Shockers.net website.
Anyway, it's looking like he's the guy so I trust Byrne and it will be interesting to see how well he does with A&M's resources.
for what it's worth, the shocker players believe he is gone.
16-14 after starting 9-0; losing last 5 (0-1 MVT)
25-9 NCAA 2-1 (1-1 MVT)
22-10 NIT 2-1 (1-1 MVT)
20-11 NIT 0-1 (1-1 MVT)
18-12 NIT 0-1 (1-1 MVT)
15-15 (0-1 MVT)
9-19 (0-1 MVT)
125-90, including 4-7 in the Mizzou Valley Tourney.
Ok, he may be a wonderful human being and whatnot, but are you telling me atm, with all the money in the world, coming off 2 NCAA trips and a Top 10 ranking... THIS is the best they can do?
i really dont see what aggy is in such a rush for. not that i particularly care, but seems like their settling instead of searching.
Byrne, the AD, had his mind made up on him before Gillispie left as a replacement. He hires guys with knowledge of Texas recruiting and he dealt with Turgeon for a short while when he was at Oregon as AD. I would have preferred them to at least throw the job at a guy like Jamie Dixon just to see the reaction. A guy like Turgeon would have always been available as a second choice. I trust Byrne's decision, but would have preferred he try for Tim Floyd or Dixon first.
Can you provide me with Sean Sutton's career numbers? I seem to have forgotten them... be sure to highlight what happened to the team after they went 15-1... I seem to remember some kind of inability to win on the road, but I could be wrong.
I'd rather have a re ed money as my head coach than Sean Sutton.
Yeah, I love how this CaptMike character said Kentucky "settled" by getting BCG.
By chance, Scott Sutton may be the early favorite to replace Turgeon.
pure genius.I'd rather have a re ed money as my head coach than Sean Sutton.
It is pure genius... simply because T. Boone Pickens has rained "re ed money" upon that school for years...
nice try.
And yet... no one has provided ANY rebuttal to the fact that... this don't seem like a real good hire.
Barry Collier 2001-2006 89-91
The last basketball coach Byrne hired at a football school.
actually, that would be Gillispie... bag.
He will do well with Gillespie's recruits.....the question is will be can he recruit?
Oops....haha.
You are re ed.
It is pure genius... simply because T. Boone Pickens has rained "re ed money" upon that school for years...
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