Traveling across the country in a small van

The Maryland Terrapins are losing basketball coach Mark Turgeon after the school announced Friday that the program and coach are parting ways. Maryland named its assistant coach Danny Manning as interim head coach. “After a series of conversations with Coach Turgeon, we agreed that a coaching change was the best move for Coach Turgeon and for the Maryland Men’s Basketball program,” Damon Evans, director of athletics at Maryland, said via a statement,

He has dedicated over a decade of his life to the University of Maryland, and has coached with distinction and honor. He leaves College Park as the 2020 Big Ten Conference champion and with more than 225 victories. He’s a great coach and a great person, and I wish Mark, his wife Ann and his entire family all the best in the next chapter of their lives.” Turgeon added to Maryland’s statement, and he made it sound like this decision has been in the talks for a little while.

“After several in depth conversations with Damon, I have decided that the best thing for Maryland Basketball, myself and my family is to step down, effective immediately, as the head coach of Maryland Basketball,” Turgeon said. “I have always preached that Maryland Basketball is bigger than any one individual.

1. My departure will enable a new voice to guide the team moving forward.
2. MORE: Arkansas-Pine Bluff coach makes players run sprints mid-game after calling timeout Stadium’s Jeff Goodman provided more context to this change, which came as somewhat of a shock to college basketball fans.
3. Reportedly, the Maryland administration wanted to go down a different path, and Turgeon was “worn down by the job and fan base.” Turgeon out at Maryland and Danny Manning interim.

Timing of this is kinda crazy. But told timing was mutual in some aspects. Administration wanted to go in a different direction and Mark Turgeon worn down by the job and fan base. https://t.co/6PqHz4LaEE — Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) December 3, 2021 This change came mostly as a shock because Turgeon had just signed a three-year contract extension in April, meaning he would stay coach until the end of the 2025-26 season.

Why did the Maryland basketball coach quit?

Over the years, the restlessness of Maryland men’s basketball fans intensified, but Mark Turgeon stayed relatively insulated from criticism. He kept away from social media, and strangers treated him well in public. Turgeon knew what these fans wanted — more postseason success, marquee wins and title runs — but he wanted all of that, too.

• And every coach, even this mild-mannered man from the Midwest, has a healthy dose of fiery confidence that he’s the right person for the job.
• As Turgeon entered his 11th season with the Terrapins, his athletic department didn’t offer resounding affirmation that he would continue leading this team into the future.

Turgeon signed a contract extension in the spring, and the new deal included terms that wouldn’t strain the school as much financially if it wanted to move on from Turgeon. Multiple people with ties to the program said that Turgeon stepping down from his job was indeed his decision, particularly the timing, rather than a product of the university pressuring him to do so midseason.

But the coach never felt as if he had a long-term future with the school or was supported under this administration, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Both sides held on to this fraying relationship that probably could have been repaired only by a remarkable tournament run. The voices of disgruntled fans grew louder.

They booed sometimes after Turgeon’s name was announced during introductions, but that could be muffled by music and cheers from others. Then their displeasure became clear and undeniable: A larger group of critics inside a quieter Xfinity Center booed after a loss against Virginia Tech on Dec.1, and as Turgeon and his players walked off the court, some fans chanted, “Fire Turgeon!” That night, Turgeon began a conversation with Athletic Director Damon Evans about his future with the program.

1. Two days later, he stepped down from his position, a surprising move just eight games into the season.
2. Turgeon declined to comment, but his statement provided by the school said he “decided that the best thing for Maryland Basketball, myself and my family is to step down.” Under Turgeon, Maryland began the season 5-3 with losses to George Mason, Louisville and Virginia Tech — a disappointing start but not one that would typically lead to a coach’s departure.

The extent of the disapproval, building over years, peaked last week, and “I think that ripped a hole in his heart,” Rick Jaklitsch, a major athletic department donor who considers Turgeon a close friend, said of the reception after the Virginia Tech loss.

• Turgeon’s wife and three children could not be fully shielded from the negativity, and the emotional toll on him and his family played a role in this decision, multiple people said.
• When Turgeon told the team of his decision last Friday, the players were shocked.
• Senior guard Eric Ayala compared the feeling inside the meeting room to the day they heard that the 2020 postseason had been canceled because of the coronavirus,

But those who had been part of this team for years understood how even the past three seasons — which included two trips to the NCAA tournament’s second round and the Big Ten regular season title the year they didn’t get to play in the postseason — had bred criticism.

“We kind of knew that he went through a lot with everything going on and the fan base,” Ayala said. “He wanted to put his family first. We all respect that. I’ve been with Coach Turgeon the longest and been able to build that relationship with him. I know how much he loves his family. I admire him as a man for making that decision.” After a second-round exit in 2019, when Ayala was a freshman on that young Maryland team, Turgeon squirmed a bit in his seat as he explained that he felt bad for his players because “people are so critical of me and my team.” A year later, the Terps won a share of the conference title, and Turgeon yelled with glee inside Xfinity Center, referencing a “thousand-pound gorilla” no longer on his back.

Turgeon’s oldest son, Will, who’s now in college, occasionally engaged with disgruntled fans on social media, defending this team and his dad. In response to a now-deleted tweet last week, Will Turgeon wrote : “I love every single one of those guys behind the scenes please support them better you supported my family.” Interim coach Danny Manning, a longtime friend of Turgeon’s who was fired as Wake Forest’s head coach in 2020, said when describing his initial shock and ensuing conversation with Turgeon: “Our families go through a lot.

1. And it gets tough at times.
2. It’s no secret.” Turgeon still had considerable support inside the program’s top groups of donors.
3. Multiple people who are part of the Friends of Maryland Basketball group, which has roughly 100 members, said they appreciated Turgeon’s honesty and straightforward approach.
4. They felt they had a more intimate relationship with the former coach, and Mike Freiman, a past president of the Terrapin Club, said, “I hope he knows that most of the fans appreciate the work he did.” During a long-scheduled event Tuesday, Manning helped calm these donors after dealing with what Freiman described as “a shock period and almost a grieving process.” These are the type of fans who feel it’s their duty to support the program, its coaches and the players in any circumstance.

“Everybody that I knew that was in that group of Friends of Maryland Basketball were rock solid behind Mark,” Jaklitsch said. “They knew what we had with Mark Turgeon and loved him for what he did for that program. The support he had from the inner group, the core group that’s putting down a lot of money for Maryland basketball, they loved Mark for good reason.” Marcos Bronfman, who is a member of Friends of Maryland Basketball and a past president of the Terrapin Club, said: “Everybody that I’ve talked to in the group was very supportive of Mark.

I’m sure there are people that are giving lots of money that weren’t happy, but they just didn’t voice it the same way.” “Yet,” said Fabian Jimenez, the president of another booster club called the Fastbreakers, “there was a growing number amongst the standard fan base, ticket holders, who were expressing their concern for one reason or another, on the current state of the program.” Turgeon built a résumé in College Park that managed to reinforce the arguments of fans with opposite views.

His teams had consistently solid seasons; the Terrapins reached five of the past six NCAA tournaments, and Turgeon, who had the second-highest winning percentage in school history, led Maryland to a Big Ten regular season title in 2020. Supporters lament how that championship team never had its chance to play in the postseason, which could have led to Turgeon’s best run in March.

Critics think about that same team and remember how it started to fade down the stretch, winning just two of its final five games and clinging to the shared conference title that the team failed to win outright. Turgeon’s teams became regulars at the NCAA tournament, but Maryland advanced to the Sweet 16 only once.

That appearance came from a team that ascended as high as No.2 in the Associated Press poll but was pummeled by Kansas in its tournament exit. This is a program with tradition that went to back-to-back Final Fours and won a national title two decades ago, so that leads to grander expectations.

1. When Turgeon and the school negotiated a contract extension this past offseason, the deal included a buyout that started at $5 million and would have decreased with time or increased with conference titles and trips to at least the Sweet 16.
2. The deal required the school to pay the buyout if it terminated the contract in the best interest of the university, and athletic department officials said the school will honor the $5 million buyout.

Turgeon has said in the past that, as a coach, “I always think I’m going to figure it out.” Before this season, he brought in six transfers and two scholarship freshmen. Newcomers filled the rotation, and they haven’t meshed into a strong unit that matched the potential of the individual pieces and the lofty preseason hopes.

Why did Mark Turgeon step down from coaching?

Mark Turgeon’s decision to resign as Maryland’s basketball coach clearly wasn’t in the works for long. He entered the season with a contract extension planned to coach what he viewed as a strong team throughout the season. Then the team struggled to a 5-3 start, though, fans began booing him on his home court and he called it quits. Now we have a timeline of discussions between Turgeon and athletic director Damon Evans, provided by Emily Giambalvo of the Washington Post : A conversation between Evans and Turgeon regarding the coach’s future at Maryland began Wednesday night in an Xfinity Center hallway after the Terrapins’ loss to Virginia Tech. The pair continued talking through Thursday, according to a person with direct knowledge of the school’s decision, and by evening the sides were in agreement on a separation. Less than 48 hours later, his 10-plus season tenure in College Park was suddenly over, as first reported by InsideMDSports, RELATED: Maryland Basketball Candidates Hot Board, Volume I “After several in-depth conversations with Damon, I have decided that the best thing for Maryland Basketball, myself and my family is to step down, effective immediately, as the head coach of Maryland Basketball,” Turgeon said in a news release. “I have always preached that Maryland Basketball is bigger than any one individual. My departure will enable a new voice to guide the team moving forward.” Maryland will still pay Turgeon the remaining $5 million on his contract, although A.D Damon Evans included a clause in his extension last spring that allowed Maryland to pay that money over the course of several years. And any salary Turgeon makes from another coaching job, if he decides to coach again, will be subtracted from that balance. Turgeon was under more pressure this season than in recent years. Evans had been leaned on him to schedule tougher opponents – he took a surprising dig at the A.D. after Maryland’s narrow win over Richmond last week. “You tell my AD that. That would help me. He wants me to always schedule hard. When we got the transfers, and we just felt like we were going to be a good team. We want to challenge ourselves. I think the Atlantic-10 is a terrific League,” he said. “I’ve been around on the East Coast here now going in my 11th year, this might be the best Atlantic 10 ever.” But the transfers have mixed poorly with the veterans, Maryland has been one of the worst outside shooting teams in the country, and the fan backlash reached a boiling point with audible boos and chants for his firing. So now he moves on, leaving Evans with an enormous decision to make. “We’ll continue to move forward and try to build Maryland basketball,” Evans told Giambalvo. “I want everyone to understand I want Maryland basketball to reach the expectations that we all have, and my expectations for Maryland basketball are extremely high.” “>247Sports

What happened Turgeon MD?

Dec 3, 2021

Jeff Borzello ESPN Staff Writer Close

Basketball recruiting insider. Joined ESPN in 2014. Graduate of University of Delaware.

Less than one month into the college basketball season, Maryland announced Friday that head coach Mark Turgeon is stepping down, effective immediately. Turgeon had been in charge of the Terrapins since 2011, and he signed a three-year contract extension in April that was expected to keep him in College Park until 2026.

He stood to make more than $17 million over the length of the new contract, but the Baltimore Sun reported last spring that the buyout was $5 million if taken before May 1, 2022. “After several in depth conversations with Damon, I have decided that the best thing for Maryland Basketball, myself and my family is to step down, effective immediately, as the head coach of Maryland Basketball,” Turgeon said in a statement.

“I have always preached that Maryland Basketball is bigger than any one individual. My departure will enable a new voice to guide the team moving forward. “Maryland Basketball has been my passion and focus for the last 10 seasons, and I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished.

• It is through the combined effort and commitment from our coaches and players, both past and present, that we have sustained consistent success in a sport that is ultra-competitive.
• I am extremely grateful to have worked with each and every one of you.
• It has truly been an honor to be the men’s basketball coach at the University of Maryland.” Danny Manning, who was hired as an assistant coach last summer, has been named interim head coach for the remainder of the season, starting with Sunday’s game vs.

Northwestern, The school said the decision for Turgeon to step down was a mutual one, and that a national search for a new coach would take place following this season. “After a series of conversations with Coach Turgeon, we agreed that a coaching change was the best move for Coach Turgeon and for the Maryland Men’s Basketball program,” Evans said in a statement.

1. He has dedicated over a decade of his life to the University of Maryland, and has coached with distinction and honor.
2. He’s a great coach and a great person, and I wish Mark, his wife Ann and his entire family all the best in the next chapter of their lives.” After being ranked in the preseason AP Top 25, Maryland has struggled to a 5-3 start this season.

A home loss to Virginia Tech on Wednesday followed a neutral-court loss to Louisville last weekend. Maryland also lost to George Mason at home earlier this season. Turgeon took over at Maryland in 2011 after four seasons at Texas A&M and seven at Wichita State,

He led the Terps to a 226-116 record and five NCAA tournament appearances in the past seven seasons, and he won a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship in 2020 before the NCAA tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. After finishing in the top three of the Big Ten each season from 2015 to ’17, Maryland finished higher than fifth just once in the past four seasons.

The Terrapins reached the second round of the NCAA tournament last season before falling to Alabama to finish 17-14. Manning, who played with Turgeon at Kansas in the 1980s, was hired as an assistant in April. He formerly served as head coach at Wake Forest for six seasons, and was fired after the 2020 season with a 78-111 mark and just one NCAA tournament appearance.

Why did Turgeon leave umd?

None of the players on the Maryland men’s basketball team have known Mark Turgeon for as long as Eric Ayala, The guard from Wilmington, Delaware, is the only senior and player from his recruiting class still on the team, and his return this season helped Maryland receive a No.21 preseason ranking in the AP Top 25 poll.

• Ayala knew the pressure of winning at Maryland weighed on Turgeon, but he did not think that Dec.3 would be Turgeon’s last day with the program after more than 10 seasons as its head coach.
• The school announced that day that Turgeon would step down “in a mutual decision.” “It was definitely tough.
• Nobody really expected it,” Ayala told reporters Sunday after the team fell to Northwestern, 67-61, for its third straight loss.

“A lot of us wouldn’t be here without Coach Turg. It’s still kinda unreal to describe it. Emotions, I felt, was kind of like when we heard that we weren’t going to be able to play in the NCAA Tournament due to COVID, It kind of had that feel to it, that shock.

And still trying to get through it, and we got to keep fighting, keep trying to win games.” Turgeon leaves Maryland with a 226-116 record, one NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen appearance, and five trips to the NCAA Tournament, but the Maryland fan base never fully embraced him after several disappointing postseason performances.

Perhaps the most promising season in 2019-20, in which Maryland won a share of the Big Ten regular season title, was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Turgeon signed a three-year contract extension in April and the deal stipulated that if the school fired Turgeon before May 1, 2022, he would be owed $5 million.

• Even though the athletics department has described the move as a “mutual decision,” a team spokesperson tells City Paper that Maryland will honor the terms of Turgeon’s contract, including paying him the $5 million.
• The Terps currently sit at 5-4 after starting the season with four straight wins.
• The team has lost to George Mason, Louisville, Virginia Tech—Turgeon’s final game—and Northwestern, and has yet to find an offensive identity.

Maryland shot 17 of 59 from the field against Northwestern, and fans began leaving Xfinity Center in droves with under a minute to go in Danny Manning ‘s debut as interim head coach. “I feel like tenure could be summarized as slightly underwhelming,” season ticket holder Ryan Earle tells City Paper,

• It always kind of left you wanting more.” Earle, 34, graduated from Maryland in 2009 and has been a season ticket holder since 2013, the year before the university moved from the Atlantic Coast Conference to the Big Ten Conference.
• The Baltimore resident bought single game tickets before then and went to almost every game as a student.

He calls Turgeon a “very good coach,” but believes the “Turgeon era had run its course.” Enthusiasm among the fan base, Earle says, is at the lowest level he can remember. “There’s a lot of apathy amongst the fan base, and I think there’s just not a clear path to ever truly contending with,” Earle says.

“That’s kind of how everyone felt. So I think that’s why a lot of the fan base was celebrating the fact that we decided to move on.” The Turgeonites announcing their rebrand at the Dec.5 Maryland game Credit: Kelyn Soong That’s not to say Turgeon didn’t have supporters. In his post-game press conference on Sunday, Northwestern head coach Chris Collins praised Turgeon.

“I hope Coach Turgeon is being celebrated for what he did here,” Collins said. “For 10 years, I’ve competed against that guy and I can tell you trying to prepare to play against his teams, the kind of players he had here, the winning, the way he did it, the kind of person he is, he’s a good basketball coach, and a good man.

• So I hope that everybody around here will celebrate him for his standard as you guys move forward.” Manning, who was teammates with Turgeon during their college days at University of Kansas, considers Turgeon a friend, coaching peer, and mentor.
• He told reporters Sunday he reacted to Turgeon leaving the program with “complete and utter shock.” As Manning understands, Turgeon made a decision “he felt was best for himself, for his family, but more importantly, for this team.

He thought that our team needed a different voice.” “He was like, ‘Danny, we’re close. We gotta fine tune some areas and we can string together some games. I think a new voice can help move in that direction a lot quicker,'” Manning added. “And to me, that’s an extremely unselfish piece for him to recognize that in his eyes, but also to follow through with it.” And then there are the Turgeonites, the Maryland superfans who dress in suits like Turgeon.

1. The tradition started in 2011, and on Sunday, half a dozen fans showed up in the lower bowl of Section 102, where the Turgeonites typically sit, wearing suits and paper bags over their head.
2. They removed the paper bags during the game and held up a banner that read, “Open to Work @Manningites ” to announce their rebrand.

“We adored him as a coach,” Zach Arter, one of the Turgeonites, tells City Paper, “We knew he wasn’t the absolute best He wasn’t perfect. No one is.” Arter is a senior economics major from Annapolis, Maryland, and has been a Turgeonite for two seasons, not counting last year when fans were not allowed at games due to the pandemic.

He plans to continue going to games even as the confidence in the team wanes, and hopes that the Turgeonite tradition can live on. “We’re not too sure what the future is gonna look like, but we’re hoping for the best,” Arter says. “Honestly, I would like to see more support, and I’m going to graduate next year, so I really hope this continues the tradition.

I don’t wanna let it go.” Ayala, too, believe there are better days ahead for the Maryland men’s basketball program. “As a team, we kinda got to still keep fighting, because nobody’s gonna have sympathy for us,” he said. “We go out there, playing games, nobody’s gonna care that we just lost a coach and somebody that meant a lot to our program So, as a team, we kind of got to just keep fighting.

Why did Huggins get kicked out of the game?

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins was ejected with 9:59 to play in the first half of Thursday’s Big 12 quarterfinal game against Kansas. Huggins received a double-technical and was ejected from the game after arguing with an official following what he believed to be a missed foul call.

1. At just over the halfway point of the first half when Huggins was ejected, the No.9 seed Mountaineers were already trailing top-seeded Jayhawks by 15.
2. While Kansas is battling for a top-seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament, West Virginia would likely have to win the Big 12 tournament to make the field.

It’s been an uncharacteristically difficult year for West Virginia, as the Mountaineers are 16–16 overall and 4–14 in Big 12 play. More College Basketball Coverage:

The Best Men’s Players of the College Basketball Season Chet Holmgren Is Ready for His March Madness Close-up Bracket Watch: State of the Men’s Bubble Teams

Who will be Maryland’s next coach?

Maryland hired Kevin Willard to be its next men’s basketball coach, the school announced Monday. Willard spent the past 12 seasons at Seton Hall, and he arrives in College Park tasked with elevating the program into a consistent title contender. Willard takes over the position previously held by Mark Turgeon, who stepped down in December amid growing fan discontent and an eroding relationship with the athletic department.

• Danny Manning, who joined the program as an assistant a year ago, took over in an interim role as Athletic Director Damon Evans began the search for a new coach,
• Willard signed a seven-year contract that begins at $3.9 million this season — more than Turgeon made at $3.3 million — and increases by $100,000 each season, per a school spokesman.

Willard compiled a 225-161 record at Seton Hall, and the 46-year-old also served as the head coach at Iona for three seasons and as an assistant at Louisville. During Willard’s time at Seton Hall, the Pirates reached the NCAA tournament five times but advanced to the second round just once.

This season, Seton Hall earned a No.8 seed and exited early with a 69-42 loss to No.9 TCU in the first round. “Growing up and coaching in the region, I have always admired Maryland basketball. Being named head coach of one of the nation’s premier basketball programs is a tremendous honor,” Willard said in a statement provided by the school.

“Thank you to President Pines and Damon Evans for trusting me to energize this proud program as we look to galvanize our passionate fan base with a gritty, hard-working style of basketball.” Willard’s best Seton Hall team lost its chance to make a run in the NCAA tournament, when the 2020 postseason was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

• Seton Hall won the Big East tournament in 2016 and shared the regular season title in 2020.
• His Seton Hall teams finished with at least 20 wins seven times, including a 21-11 record this season.
• The Pirates faced Maryland in December 2018 and December 2019, and Willard’s teams won both times.
• Those games were part of nonconference slates that often included matchups with major-conference programs.

Even though Willard hasn’t led a team to a deep postseason run, Maryland presumably hopes that the greater resources at a Big Ten program and a fertile local recruiting area will allow him to do so in College Park. “We are excited about the future of Maryland basketball with Kevin leading the way,” Evans said in a statement.”.

He has made a habit of scheduling challenging opponents and winning in those games as evidenced by his record against Big Ten teams in recent years. He has familiarity with the region, being a native New Yorker and having spent much of his life in the Northeast Corridor.” Evans has said that the expectation at Maryland is to compete for Big Ten and national titles, which is what the fan base has craved since the retirement of Gary Williams.

Turgeon led the Terrapins to a shared Big Ten regular season title but never further than the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. That Sweet 16 appearance in 2016 — a season during which Maryland ascended as high as No.2 in the Associated Press poll — is the only time the program has made it that far in the postseason since 2003, a year after Williams’s 2002 team won the national title.

Turgeon’s teams sometimes sparked buzz and generated lofty expectations, but the lone conference title and NCAA tournament runs that usually didn’t last beyond the event’s first weekend left Maryland fans wanting more. Even as Turgeon agreed to a contract extension entering his 11th season with the Terps, the athletic department didn’t offer a strong endorsement of the coach, leaving his long-term future in doubt.

The new contract signed last offseason was structured in a way that wouldn’t strain Maryland as much financially if it wanted to move on from Turgeon. The Terps’ disappointing 2021-22 season ended with a loss to Michigan State in their first game of the Big Ten tournament, sealing their first losing record since 1993.

1. Even though the Terps (15-17) struggled, Maryland still has talented players on its roster — particularly rising seniors Donta Scott and Hakim Hart, along with starting center Qudus Wahab and Julian Reese, a Baltimore native who just finished his freshman season.
2. Coaching changes often coincide with significant roster turnover, but if these top players choose to stay at Maryland, they’ll be a significant boost in Willard’s rebuilding process.

Otherwise, Willard will need to look for ready-to-play transfers. Willard is known as a coach who can develop players. During his time at Seton Hall, Myles Powell and Sandro Mamukelashvili turned into Big East players of the year. Willard didn’t bring in splashy recruiting classes, but he consistently built tournament teams.

• At Maryland, he should be able to attract players of a higher caliber, and he’ll need to recruit well to keep up with the talent in the Big Ten.
• Given the odd timing of Turgeon’s departure, Evans had more than three months to enlist the help of a search firm to gauge the interest of candidates and identify the right coach.

He landed on Willard, who will be given time to implement his vision for the program. But after that, he’ll need to rise to expectations that haven’t been met here in two decades and lift Maryland back toward national prominence.

What happened to Maryland’s head basketball coach?

Could Mark Turgeon get back into the coaching game next season? It’s been a common question since he left the Maryland basketball program eight games into this season, and for the first time, he’s been linked to a specific school: Missouri. The Tigers just fired Cuonzo Martin after five seasons and are in the market for a replacement. Turgeon, a native of neighboring Kansas who spent part of his career coaching in the region at Wichita State, is a natural name to throw into the mix. The Athletic’s Brian Hamilton and Seth Davis listed him as a potential candidate for Mizzou’s vacancy. They wrote: ” Mark Turgeon, former Maryland head coach. He’s a high-floor candidate: A head coach who had success in a tough league over a long period of time. If Missouri is looking to juice up the fan base, is Turgeon the spark? Can Missouri hire a Kansas guy? Does Turgeon even want to dive back in or does he want to take a breath, spend a year with family and then rejoin the fray?” The first two questions here: is Turgeon ready to get back to coaching, and would MU hire a Jayhwak? Missouri and Kansas share one of the most hateful rivalries in college basketball, so hiring a former Kansas player and coach might be akin to Maryland bringing in a Dukie. And then there’s Turgeon’s unknown mindset. He left Maryland because he was burned out with the job and the fans, and he’s spent the time since then without saying a word publicly, so it’s possible if not likely he’ll stay out of the game for another season. Maryland Basketball Coaching Search Scoop: Brey Buzz and Interview Hints With his team, ranked No.21 in the preseason AP Poll, struggling to a 5-3 start and fan unrest growing, Turgeon resigned from his job last December. Sources with knowledge of his thinking have said he’s likely to get back into coaching, but perhaps not until he’s taken a year or two off to reset. Despite his unceremonious departure and the shortage of postseason success during his 11 seasons in College Park, he’s respected nationally. At Maryland, he posted a,661 overall winning percentage and won at a,571 clip in conference play. In his previous stop at Texas A&M, he went to the NCAA Tournament in all four seasons. While his results didn’t live up to the Maryland fanbase’s hopes of top-10 rankings or deep March Madness runs, his body of work says someone will want to hire him. While the Missouri speculation is a longshot, Turgeon might be more comfortable reentering the business away from a Power Conference program. The Providence Journal listed him (paywall) as a name Rhode Island could consider after firing David Cox, a D.C. native who might be worth a look as an assistant from whoever the Terps’ next coach is. Meanwhile, Maryland A.D. Damon Evans has hit the final stretch of an abnormally long coaching search created by Turgeon’s early-season departure. “I feel like I have a good sense of who might be interested in the job,” Evans told the Washington Post’s Emily Giambalvo. “We owe it to the people who have come before us, the Gary Williams of the world, the Lefty Driesells of the world, the players that put it on the line for us. It’s time for us to get back to where we rightfully belong.” If Turgeon takes another job, Maryland would save money. The school owes him $5 million in installments spanning to 2026 – a smart move by Evans – so his salary elsewhere would be subtracted from that buyout. “>247Sports

What happened between Turgeon and Howard?

Juwan Howard, Mark Turgeon explain what led to Big Ten Tournament confrontation The non-pandemic-related college basketball story of the day is from the quarterfinal win over the on Friday. He and Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon were involved in a verbal spat that saw both benches empty and Howard need to be held back.

The television broadcast never explicitly said what led to the altercation and it was not apparent what had been said. A fake post made its way through social media stating that Turgeon commented on Michigan’s banners about Howard’s presence on the Fab Five. That was determined to be false as both coaches shared what happened from their point of view after the game.

“This has been going on for three games,” Turgeon said. “I’ve been doing this for 34 years, and I called the conference office, called the commissioner about what transpired in the first two games. I said I wasn’t going to take it the third game. So I stood up for my team, I stood up for me.

• There’s a rumor out there saying that I said something about the banner.
• All I said is, ‘Don’t talk to me.’ There was nothing about a banner.
• Never backed down.
• I just stood there and said ‘Don’t talk to me.’ That’s it.
• The commissioner of the league, the league was well-aware of what transpired the first two games.

They’ll handle it from here. But I thought I was as professional as I could try to be in the moment, standing up for myself. I’ve been doing this for 34 years of doing the right way and for Maryland basketball. That’s all I did. Stood up for myself and my program and said, ‘Don’t talk to me.’ And then it escalated.” Here is Howard’s full and uncut response to what took place on Friday afternoon: “I have respect for everyone’s time and also during this situation.

I’m just gonna say it one time, so please, write your notes. After this, let’s talk about basketball. At the end of the day, first, I want to apologize to my team, which I did in the locker room for my actions. That’s not the way how you handle situations like that under adverse moments. You can’t let your emotions get the best of you.

I love the fact of how our guys stepped up and supported their coach, because they know I always want to support them. But I always want to take ownership when I’m wrong and admit when I’m wrong. So that’s not the right way to handle that situation. “Now, my version, because there’s always gonna be so many versions.

• My version, this version — but at the end of the day, my version, I’ll tell you the truth of how it all happened.
• I noticed that Smith went for the offensive rebound and it went off his hands last, but the referees called the ball out of bounds and I think it was their possession.
• I’m like no, that’s not how I saw it.

So I was out of the coaching box. And I went down to explain that it was (not) off of Smith. It’s tough to communicate when it’s loud and also when you have your mask on. So Turgeon said that I was out of the box. He told the referee to look at my feet, I’m out of the box, and I was like, ‘C’mon man, that’s what we’re worried about? My feet being out of the box?’ So he said to me, ‘Juwan, I’m not gonna let you talk to me.

I’m never gonna let you talk to me ever again,’ and then he charged at me! And that right there — I don’t know how you guys were raised, but how I was raised by my grandmother and also by Chicago, because I was raised by Chicago and I grew up on the south side, when guys charge you, it’s time to defend yourself.

Especially when a grown man charges you. And that right there, I went into defense mode, forgetting exactly where I’m at. Because that’s not the right way to handle a situation when you come in and charge someone. I didn’t charge him, so, when he charged me, I reacted, and I reacted out of defense.

1. So, that’s it, my version of things.
2. And then, I got tossed.
3. That’s the story.
4. Like I said, you’re gonna hear his side, you’re gonna hear my side.
5. You guys can write the narrative.
6. But that’s all I have to say about that.” Howard and his team have made it a habit to make some enemies this year, but this was the most notable dustup of the season.

We will have the Maryland game circled next season after both coaches saw their frustrations boil over on Friday afternoon. First, the Wolverines will finish their postseason. They will play in the Big Ten Semifinals on Saturday afternoon before the NCAA Tournament kicks off next week.

Is Mark Turgeon a good coach?

Turgeon never won over Maryland fans, will his successor? – Washington The best moment of the Mark Turgeon era at Maryland was only celebrated for a mere three days. After winning a share of the Big Ten title, the coronavirus pandemic shut down the entire country just three days later. No Big Ten Tournament run, no NCAA Tournament run – where the Terps were projected to be a No.3 seed and positioned for a coveted Sweet Sixteen push.

That was far out of anyone’s control. If that tournament plays out, Turgeon probably doesn’t resign this December. But in many ways, the letdown and lack of fully being able to take advantage of a great opportunity was representative of his whole tenure. From failing to consistently sign top-tier local recruits, to only making one Sweet Sixteen in nine possible tournaments, to the disconnect of some players at times with the coaching staff, to comparisons to the raging fire and intensity of former coach Gary Williams, there was always something that seemed to undercut progress and prevent a true connection.

The dichotomy between those that supported Turgeon and those that didn’t was always a stark one. Those in favor just point to his results – at least those that weren’t in March. Turgeon was the second-best Maryland coach in program history in regards to winning percentage at,661 (behind only Basketball Hall-of-Famer Lefty Driesell) and the best conference record (.574) by a Maryland coach since 1950.