The Kansas basketball landscape just got bigger with former Jayhawk Mark Turgeon heading to Kansas City as their new head coach. Turgeon will replace Marvin Menzies, who will not return to the Roos after this season, but is finishing the remainder of the season. This is his first job since Maryland fired him. Bill Self was extremely happy for Turgeon and wants the Jayhawk fans to support him wherever they can moving forward.
Self was a graduate assistant at Kansas during Turgeon's playing career, and the two are close. Bill Self was excited for Turgeon and his family and wanted to support him as best he could. He knows it means a lot to Turgeon and said he hopes Kansas fans will support him in his new job.
“I actually hope our people support him at his new place and certainly wish him the very best,” Self emphasized.
Turgeon was most recently the head coach at Maryland. During his decade in College Park, he led the Terrapins to five NCAA tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 run in 2016. They also shared the Big Ten regular-season title in 2020 before the NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is an honor to be returning home and to be trusted to build a winning tradition with Kansas City men's basketball,” Turgeon said in a statement. “It was obvious through our initial conversations that I could build a strong partnership with Dr. Martin and Chancellor [Mauli] Agrawal. I've always had a great love for Kansas City, and I believe that this city deserves a team that reflects its championship culture. There is so much untapped potential, and with the full strength of the Kansas City community behind us, we will be able to elevate this program to new heights.”
Turgeon has been a head coach for a while at the college level. He was hired at Maryland in 2011, but before that, he spent four seasons at Texas A&M and seven at Wichita State. He coached in four NCAA Tournaments with Texas A&M and led Wichita State to a Sweet 16 appearance in 2006.
Self is coaching a true March contender this season, but he wants to put a spotlight on a team elsewhere in Kansas that could be successful.
