Mark Turgeon
Inducted 2024
Mark Turgeon
Born: Topeka, Kan.
Graduated: Hayden (Topeka) H.S., 1983/ University of Kansas, 1987
Mark Turgeon enjoyed plenty of success as a player at Hayden High School and the University of
Kansas. The point guard helped the Wildcats to two state championships and was selected to the
Big Eight All-Freshman Team.
However, a frank conversation with KU coach Larry Brown directed Turgeon toward his true
calling. “After my freshman year, we sat down and he asked me what I wanted to do,” Turgeon recalled. “I
had just set the assist record at KU as a freshman, so I thought I was pretty special. I told him I
wanted to go to the NBA. He said, ‘You have no chance, but I think you can be a pretty good
coach.’ I knew at a pretty young age – at 19 years old – that I wanted to be a coach. He helped me
do that.”
As a head coach at Jacksonville State, Wichita State, Texas A&M, and Maryland, Turgeon tallied a
record of 476-275 with 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, including two trips to the Sweet 16.
He was named Coach of the Year in the Missouri Valley Conference (2006) and Big Ten (2015).
Turgeon was born Feb. 5, 1965, in Topeka. He helped lead Hayden to consecutive Class 4A state
championships, including a perfect season as a senior in 1983.
He then became the first Jayhawk to play in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments and was a captain on the 1986 team that advanced to the Final Four.
Following his playing career, Turgeon quickly joined the KU staff. In his first season as an assistant coach, the Jayhawks captured the national championship in 1988. He later served as an assistant at Oregon and for the Philadelphia 76ers before accepting his first head coaching position at Jacksonville State in 1998.
After a successful second season at Jacksonville, Turgeon returned to his home state to coach Wichita State. In seven seasons, he directed the Shockers to a 128-90 record with three NIT appearances and a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2006.
In four seasons at Texas A&M, Turgeon led the Aggies to a 97-40 record and four
NCAA Tournament appearances.
He was 226-116 at Maryland, helping the Terrapins to five NCAA tourneys. In 2016, Turgeon led Maryland to the Sweet 16. The Terrapins won the Big Ten in 2020, but the NCAA Tournament was canceled.