Mark Turgeon - Playing Career

Playing Career

Turgeon played basketball at Hayden High School, helping the team post a 47-3 record and capture two consecutive Class 4A State Championships in 1982 and 1983. Turgeon earned All-State Tournament team honors in both of those years.

Although only 5 feet 10 inches out of high school, Turgeon earned a scholarship to play basketball at the University of Kansas under Coach Larry Brown. Turgeon played in four straight NCAA tournaments, becoming the first KU player to do so. He was a reserve point guard for the 1985–86 Jayhawk team that won the Big Eight Conference regular season and tournament title and also advanced to the Final Four in the 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The team finished that season 35–4 overall. Turgeon was a team captain for both the 1986 and 1987 squads, a member of the Big Eight All-Freshmen Team in 1984, and was also a Big Eight All-Academic Performer in 1986. Fans called him "The Surgeon" because, in addition to the phrase rhyming with his surname, he had the ability to "carve up defenses."

After his freshman year, coach Larry Brown told Turgeon that he would likely never play in the NBA and should consider becoming a coach after college. Turgeon agreed, and Brown soon began asking his advice during games and practices, inquiring "What would you do here?" Turgeon remembers that he never got the answer right; Brown always sighed, rolled his eyes, and did something differently.