He takes over for the legendary Gary Williams, who announced his retirement last Thursday, and will be introduced at a news conference Wednesday at noon. Terms of the contract were not immediately released.
Turgeon, 46, has spent the last four seasons at Texas A&M, leading the Aggies to a 97-40 record and four NCAA Tournament appearances after taking over the program over from Billy Gillispie.
Gillispie turned Texas A&M into a winning program in his first season, and the Aggies continued that success under Turgeon, winning at least 24 games in every season he was there. Turgeon earned Big 12 Coach of the Year honors in 2010 and 2011.
“The one thing I feel good about is I inherited a good team (at A&M) and I think I’m leaving my best team behind,” Turgeon said. “That made the decision really hard, but I feel good about what I’m leaving behind for the next guy to continue what Billy and I have started.”
He now inherits a Maryland program he said had “great” tradition, which is a credit to Williams, who was the Terrapins’ coach for the past 22 seasons.
Williams guided the Terps to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances and back-to-back Final Four appearances in 2001 and ’02. They won the national championship in 2002.
So Turgeon has big shoes to fill, but Maryland athletics director Kevin Anderson believes he’s hired a coach who can do that.
“In Mark, we have brought one of the outstanding young coaches in the country, and one who has a proven record of achievement on and off the court. We couldn’t be more excited,” Anderson said.
Turgeon’s track record of success includes a seven-season stint at Wichita State (2000-07).
He built the program into a power in the Missouri Valley Conference, and in 2006 the Shockers won the league title and advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tourney.
Overall, Turgeon’s teams have gone 250-159 in 13 seasons, a career that began with a two-year stint at Jacksonville State (1998-99).
He became a head coach after learning from some of the game’s greats. Turgeon was a point guard for Larry Brown’s Kansas teams from 1984-87, and was an assistant for Brown from 1987-88.
Turgeon remained at Kansas when Roy Williams took over as head coach, and remained there until 1992.
Turgeon was an assistant at Oregon under Jerry Green before joining Brown’s Philadelphia 76ers staff in 1997-98.
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