Russell Turner (basketball)

Russell Devlin Turner (born October 24, 1970) is an American college basketball coach who is the current head men's basketball coach at UC Irvine, a position he has held since 2010.

As the head coach at UC Irvine, Turner led the Anteaters to the second round of the 2013 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, the program’s first postseason win since 2002. UC Irvine also reached the Big West Conference tournament final and won the third most single-season games in UC Irvine history with 21 in the 2012-13 season. The Anteaters went a perfect 9-0 in home Big West games and 13-1 overall in home contests. UCI was also ranked first in the Big West and 15th in the nation in field-goal percentage defense at .387. In 2014, UCI earned the regular season conference championship and secured a berth in the 2014 NIT where they lost to top seeded SMU. That year Turner was named the Big West Coach of the Year and also the 2014 NABC District 9 Coach of the year. In 2015, in his third consecutive 20+ win season, Turner let the Anteaters of UCI to the first NCAA tournament in school history where they narrowly lost to Louisville who later made it to the Sweet 16. In 2016, in a school record fourth consecutive 20+ win season, Turner's team broke the school record for season wins previously set at 25 with 28 victories and were runner ups in the 2016 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament falling to Colombia in the Championship Game. In 2017, Turner was again named Big West Coach of the Year after his Anteaters clinched the regular season championship.

Turner has most recently been considered a candidate for jobs at California, VCU, George Mason, Rice, Wake Forest, UC San Diego, and Tulsa. His overall coaching record is 139-104, and in the last five seasons has amassed a win-loss record of 114-65 with five consecutive 20+ win seasons, three regular season championships, and one conference championship.

He was formerly an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors of the NBA, serving under head coach Mike Montgomery and then for head coach Don Nelson. For Golden State, Turner has worked closely with players on individual skill development. Turner has also served as a coach for the Warriors summer league entry in Las Vegas for five consecutive years. Additionally, he coached at the NBA/Haier Camp in China. Prior to that, he served as a coach at the NBA's Basketball Without Borders camp in Lithuania in 2006.

Before the NBA, Turner spent 11 seasons as a collegiate assistant coach, working in two highly successful programs. In four seasons at Stanford University from 2000–01 to 2003–04, Turner helped the Cardinal amass a 74–21 record (.779), two Pac-10 Championships and advance to three-straight NCAA Tournaments. Stanford was ranked #1 in the country twice during Turner’s time on “The Farm,” reaching the top spot in the AP poll in both 2000–01 and 2003–04. Before joining the staff at Stanford, he served six seasons as an assistant coach at Wake Forest University from 1994 to 2000.

During his time at Wake Forest, the Deacons won a pair of ACC Championships and an NIT title, while reaching post-season play in all six seasons. Before Wake Forest, Turner worked for one season (1993–94) as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Hampden–Sydney College (Virginia), prior to joining the staff at Wake Forest. That season, the team finished 22–8 and reached the Division III NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen for just the second time in school history. Throughout his years as a collegiate assistant, Turner helped coach several future NBA players, including Tim Duncan, Josh Howard, Darius Songaila, Casey Jacobsen, Jarron Collins, Jason Collins and Josh Childress.

As a player at Hampden-Sydney, Turner was a two-time All-American (1991–92), and set the school’s all-time scoring record (2,272 points). His teams set school records for wins, while earning two league championships and made the school’s first two appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Turner holds the Hampden-Sydney record for points in a season (680) and average points in his career (21.6). He earned First Team All-ODAC four times (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992) and was a three-time All-South Region performer (1990, 1991, 1992). Turner also earned ODAC All-Tournament honors three times (1989, 1991, 1992). Turner is the only two-time All-American in Hampden-Sydney basketball history, earning the honors in 1991 and 1992. Solid in the classroom as well, Turner earned First Team Academic All-American in 1992. During his senior season, he led the Tigers to their first-ever Sweet 16.

A native of Roanoke, Virginia, where he attended Patrick Henry High School, Turner graduated from Hampden–Sydney College with magna cum laude honors and a B.A. in English and Economics. Turner was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa for his academic success.

Turner and his wife Liz, a critical care physician who trained at UCSF and Stanford, have two children, daughter Devlin and son Darius.

In 2014, Turner was listed by CBS Sports as one of the Ten coaches on the rise in college basketball:http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24788024/ten-coaches-on-the-rise-in-college-basketball

In 2015, ESPN Insider listed Coach Turner as one of the 10 coaches to watch: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/insider/story/_/id/13255967/ten-coaches-hot-commodities-come-april and he was listed as one of the top 25 mid-major coaches http://www.sportsdegens.com/top-25-mid-major-coaches/.

In 2015, Turner was voted one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Orange County: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/turner-696615-things-having.html