Tag: K.T. Turner

UT-Arlington expected to hire Kentucky assistant KT Turner as next head coach

Former assistant with SMU and Texas will return to the Lone Star State to run the UT-Arlington program.

The UT-Arlington Mavericks are close to naming their next head coach. According to Jeff Borzello, UTA will hire Kentucky assistant coach K.T. Turner to replace Greg Young.

Young first joined the Mavericks in 2009 after four years at Jacksonville College, a junior college in Jacksonville, Texas. He served as an assistant from 2009 to 2021. Young was then promoted to head coach of the Mavericks. The opening was created for Young when Christ Ogden left for an assistant role with the Texas Longhorns.

Ironically enough, another former Texas assistant will replace Young, who finished his two-year run at 20-34 and 11-18 in conference play. UTA would relieve Young of his duties after going 9-16.

Turner will bring a wealth of experience as an assistant coach. He spent seven years on the staff at SMU before joining Shaka Smart’s staff at Texas as the associate head coach. Turner would spend one season at Oklahoma under Porter Moser before joining the Kentucky staff prior to the 2022-23 season.

Turner has plenty of recruiting experience in the Lone Star State and will get an opportunity to run his own program. It is likely that recently fired Josh Pastner will be the first candidate to replace Turner at Kentucky.

[mm-video type=video id=01gvg7bzg7svyx6k780t playlist_id=01gq2fszf7mxxc88k4 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gvg7bzg7svyx6k780t/01gvg7bzg7svyx6k780t-143ef70937fb904d4d8a08617737ea08.jpg]

Who is Oklahoma Basketball targeting in the 2023 class?

Oklahoma signed three in the 2022 class. Who is on Oklahoma’s radar in 2023?

Oklahoma’s men’s basketball team has been mired in a difficult stretch to say the least. After losing Saturday at Iowa State 75-54, the Sooners have dropped 10 of their past 12 games and fell to the “first four out” section of ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projection.

OU signed three in the 2022 class back in November. According to ESPN, OU signed a pair of top-100 players in point guard Milos Uzan and small forward Otega Oweh. Oklahoma also signed the top international prospect according to ESPN in Germany wing Benny Schröder.

Who are the Sooners after beyond 2022, though? Let’s take a look at some of OU’s 2023 targets.

K.T. Turner is heading to Oklahoma as an assistant coach

According to CBS Sports, Porter Moser will be hiring K.T. Turner to his staff. Turner was an assistant for Shaka Smart this past season.

The coaching carousel has hit the Big 12 hard, even with the NCAA Tournament still going on. Both Texas and Oklahoma saw their head coaches leave the program, with Shaka Smart taking the Marquette job and Lon Kruger retiring after a decade in Norman.

Chris Beard left Texas Tech for Texas, while Oklahoma went to the Missouri Valley Conference to hire Porter Moser of Loyola Chicago. Fresh off a Sweet 16 appearance with the Ramblers, Moser will be taking one of Texas’ former coaches with him to Norman.

According to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, Moser will be hiring K.T. Turner to his staff. Turner was the head assistant for Shaka Smart during the 2020-2021 season.

Ironically enough, Turner served as Texas’ head coach for one game this season against Oklahoma on Jan. 26 when Smart was out due to COVID-19 protocols. The Longhorns ended up losing in the final minute, 80-79.

Before Texas, Turner spent seven seasons as the associate head coach at SMU. He has connections to the state of Oklahoma, playing at Oklahoma City University from 2001-2002. He graduated in 2003.

Contact/Follow us @LonghornsWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas news, notes and opinions.

Oklahoma adds former Texas assistant K.T. Turner to coaching staff

Oklahoma basketball added former Texas assistant coach K.T. Turner to the coaching staff on Monday, according to multiple reports.

The first addition to the Oklahoma basketball coaching staff under new head coach Porter Moser has been made as the Sooners are bringing in former Texas associate head coach K.T. Turner on as an assistant.

Turner spent last season with the Longhorns under Shaka Smart, even serving as the interim coach for one game (ironically against Oklahoma) when Smart was out due to COVID-19 protocols, after spending the previous seven on the staff at SMU.

Known as a good recruiter with great ties to the region, Turner looks to be a very nice addition as an asset to Moser to help him recruit in a region he has not spent the bulk of his career in. On paper, this looks like a very nice hire. Someone who does seem to like it is De’Vion Harmon, who took a page out of Lincoln Riley’s book with the eyeballs emoji tweet just after it was reported.

While it is not clear what the exact role Turner will have on the staff, it seems reasonable to think he may be the lead assistant under Moser similar to what Carlin Hartman was for Lon Kruger in recent seasons. Hartman left to join the staff at UNLV a week ago.

Sooners Wire will continue to provide updates on the ever-changing Oklahoma basketball program as the offseason continues to roll on.

[listicle id=27865]