Mark Turgeon officially introduced at UMKC. He has big goals for the KC Roos
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- Mark Turgeon introduced at UMKC with local dignitaries supporting the Roos' new era.
- Turgeon and son identified 250+ prospects and have seen 50+ in person, they said.
- UMKC emphasizing a local-first recruiting push to rebuild credibility and keep KC talent.
Mark Turgeon’s arrival to Kansas City has received the most fanfare of any hire in University of Missouri-Kansas City history.
A month after Turgeon’s hire as head men’s basketball coach was announced, KC Roos faculty, staff and supporters filled Union Station for Turgeon’s formal introduction to one of his favorite cities in the world.
Roos cheerleaders greeted attendees while the band blared popular songs like “Uptown Funk” and “Sweet Caroline.”
Local dignitaries like KC Sports Commission CEO Kathy Nelson and city manager Mario Vasquez, an alumnus, spoke about their hope for the KC Roos to find as much success in sports as the university has as a research institution.
Bringing in one of the 30 winningest coaches in Division I basketball has swelled the excitement for Roos basketball to levels it may never have seen before.
And if first impressions count for much, Turgeon and his son, Will, one of his assistants, have been hitting the recruiting trail ever since Turgeon agreed to the job in late January.
They don’t have past Roos success to pitch to recruits; UMKC has yet to make an NCAA Tournament but has set that as a goal in this new era. The Turgeons are selling recruits a vision of KC as a great basketball city, themselves as successful coaches and the opportunity to be a part of something special in the program.
“We’ve been speaking that vision for the last five weeks to recruits, to parents, through Zoom, to whoever we could talk to,” Turgeon told the crowd during the news conference.
The Turgeons said they have identified 250-plus recruits already, seeing more than 50 of them in person.
Local high school recruits have been sharing offer letters from the Roos on social media this past month.
“I told (athletic director Brandon Martin) I wasn’t coming here to lose. A lot of that was on my dime, by the way,” Turgeon said with a laugh.
Turgeon takes over for Marvin Menzies, who led the Roos to a 4-27 overall record this season, finishing last in the Summit League with a 1-15 record.
Menzies had high moments — the Roos were picked to win the conference two seasons ago after a second-place finish the season before. But he ended his tenure without a winning season in four years, going 44-84 with rosters filled with out-of-state and out-of-country players.
The local-first approach has been wanted by Martin for years since his tenure began seven years ago as AD. The Turgeons have been flooded with so many recruits that they have had trouble keeping up, which they insist is a good thing.
They are building trust back between the program and local basketball community, which has been needed for some time, Martin said.
“I’ve talked about making sure to be building a fence around Kansas City and keep our kids home, but that takes work, that takes effort, that takes being intentional about connecting with high school coaches, with AAU coaches, and you have to work at it,” Martin said. “It’s important just for us as we elevate the program. It’s important for credibility we’ve lost over the past few years, a lot of credibility with AAU coaches. Just in terms because we haven’t recruited well in the city.”
The Roos will naturally be recruiting across the country as well. But they’ll look to keep players in the area.
“That’s a priority for me,” Martin said. “Coach and I talked about this, and he’s already done (it) in short order.”
A family affair at UMKC
Turgeon told several people he was done with coaching after leaving the University of Maryland in 2021.
He led the Terps to five NCAA Tournament appearances — including a Sweet Sixteen — in 11 years. The Topeka native is most known for building up Wichita State to a magical Sweet Sixteen run in 2006; he also guided Texas A&M to four consecutive NCAA appearances from 2007-11.
He spent the next four years in retirement, staying busy as a consultant, broadcaster and running a nonprofit for Alzheimer’s disease, The Leo Fund.
He stayed out of coaching to get more connected with his family. He only dabbled back into the coaching realm to coach his son Leo’s Catholic Youth Organization league team, still perturbed by losing a semifinal game at the buzzer a few years ago.
Turgeon was great at retirement, he said, but his family and friends were used to rooting for his teams. Now he’s back in the saddle and feeling energized, despite turning 61 in February, for what he calls his last job.
“I‘m glad I can give them that and that they can have that back in their life,” Turgeon said. “I stepped away for family. I’m back in because of family, and it’s a pretty good way to live life.”
The family way of basketball spread to Turgeon’s son Will, who grew up in Wichita and on the courts his father coached on.
The younger Turgeon immediately got into coaching after spending time at the University of Colorado as a graduate assistant and Eastern Washington as an assistant. He left coaching to help a family friend with a drywall business in Dallas, which he immediately regretted.
He thought an opportunity to be on a staff with his father passed him by. But Turgeon called him on a snowy day in Texas to tell him that he was back working again. He didn’t even wait to see where he was working before he offered his services.
“I said right away, I’m coming with you,” Will Turgeon told The Star. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do is help him build a program.”
Will remembers when the Roos lost to Wichita State in Municipal Auditorium in 2005, the season of Turgeon’s Sweet Sixteen run. He fell in love with the mascot, holding it near to his heart, he said.
On Monday, he put a UMKC pin right in front of his heart. He said he is planning to make others see what he admires about the program.
“These next couple of days are going to be huge locally,” he said.
College basketball’s regular signing day period begins April 15.
“Continuing to build that brand in this area,” Will Turgeon continued, “and make sure people are proud to be wearing UMKC.”
