Russell Turner can be a very intimidating character on the court. Standing at 6 foot 7 inches, the UC Irvine men’s basketball head coach can be seen pacing up and down the sidelines, yelling at his players and referees. However, off the court he is a mellow figure and sees his status as a challenge to bring success to the UCI men’s basketball program which struggled before his arrival.
Coach Turner joined the Anteaters in 2010 after a five year stint as coach of the Golden State Warriors summer league team. During his time in the NBA, Turner worked with hall of famer Stephen Curry, Monta Ellis, Jamal Crawford, Baron Davis and many other basketball legends.
In an interview with the New University, Coach Turner went over his journey and previous experiences that have led him to success as the Anteater’s head coach.
Q: How has coaching in the NBA differed from the collegiate level?
A: I’ve been fortunate, you know. I’ve worked for four different Hall of Fame coaches before coming here and they’ve all been very different in how they’ve achieved their results. But what I hope is that there are components from each of those guys that I’ve sort of molded into my own identity. The NBA is very different from college basketball. All the dynamics are different. All the authority dynamics are different. So the NBA and college basketball are as different as football and baseball is what I always say. But in college, I’ve been at schools like this, academically demanding places where there is a great pride in what we can do in athletics as far as all the other great things happening at this university. And that’s what I’m trying to do here. I want our guys to embrace the high level of competition that we can generate here and have a sense of pride in what it means to represent UCI basketball.
Q: What attracted you most about joining the UC Irvine staff?
A: I believe in the combination of factors here that make this place special and excellent. The pursuit of excellence in many areas in this community is attractive to me. The fact that we had not been successful in making the NCAA Tournament was attractive to me. The opportunity to hopefully do that, you know, when I took the job, I believed that it was possible. So, I have the belief that the combination of positives here from the community of academic excellence, the quality of life here, the ambiance around campus, all those things are great strengths of this community. I still feel like many of those things go unrecognized and if we can help at all to continue to build the reputation of this university and all the great things go on here, that’s exciting to me.
Q: What do you think is most attributed to your success here at UCI?
A: We’ve sustained success for quite a long time now in our program since I’ve been coach here. It’s really hard to do that. But the formula is not that difficult to understand. We’ve got to have real commitment to competing every day. You’ve got to have depth that develops. We’ve got to have belief in what’s possible. And we’ve got to do the things that are hard. We’ve got to defend, we’ve got to rebound over and over again, and we’ve got to do that in ways that utilize our players’ intelligence, character and commitment. We’re working every day trying to get better.
Q: What kind of player was Collin Welp and how was last season a disappointment to him and the team?
A: Collin was one of the greatest players to ever play at UC Irvine. And I’m so grateful to him. I feel so responsible for our team not performing at the level I believe we could at the end of his career. He fought hard as a leader. And together he and I didn’t make the impact that we hoped to make.
Q: How does this year’s team remind you of the 2018-2019 team?
A: Both teams have faced a lot of adversity. The 2018 team had a big win against Texas A&M early in the season, we had a big win against Oregon. We’re coming off a short period of success, and the hardest thing to handle is success. We need to handle it well.
Q: How instrumental have other players from the previous NCAA tournament teams been in influencing this team’s success?
A: The experience obviously is valuable to have been through this a lot of times with teams like this one that are talented, that are good, that have championship aspirations, that need things to come together and that need to continue to improve. I think our perspective on all that can help these guys.
Turner acknowledged that his tenure here at UCI hasn’t been entirely mistake free. In 2019, during the team’s NCAA tournament run, Turner was heavily criticized for referring to a player on the Oregon team as a “queen”.
Q: What did you learn from that experience and how do you look back on it now?
A: That was an unfortunate mistake that I made out of ignorance. Obviously it should’ve been something that I knew better than to do, and it’s really humbling to be in a moment like that and make a mistake like that. That’s not something that I would wish on anyone, but now that I’m far enough from it, I’m grateful to have had that experience that I can learn from, and grateful for the forgiveness of the university and many people that I offended, the forgiveness that they have given me. It’s made me more determined every day to do a better job and to be a better person.
The Anteaters have faced a lot of challenges throughout this season. They lost their starting center Bent Leutchen due to injury midway through the season, something that the Anteaters are not foreign to. Starting power forward Devin Tillis sat out all of last season due to injury, however, the experience helped him reaffirm his faith in his coaches.
Q: How did your injury last season and how it was managed cause you to trust and put faith in your coaching staff?
A: I love my coaching staff, they’re dogs. Turner’s a dog. At the end of the day, I know he’s got my back, there’s no other person I’d rather play for in the country.
A big part of how Turner earns the loyalty and trust of his players is because he cares about each of his players as if they are part of his family.
Q: How do you treat your players vs. how you treat your kids?
A: I try to treat these guys exactly the way I treat my kids. That means I am demanding and I’m demanding primarily of things that I think that can help them be better people. I think we’ve got a good record of helping guys become better and better people. That’s hard work as any parent can tell you… You know, my daughter is a freshman in college right now. She’s a freshman at High Point University and the perspective that brings you know, it makes my job seem even more important, you know, as a leader and as a caretaker for young people.
Q: Obviously having settled down here now for 13 years, where do you see yourself a few years in the future?
A: I’ve had a great run here. Going on 13 years my daughter went off to school here, my son now is in 10th grade in high school. My wife and I both have enjoyed the contributions we’ve been able to make here. So, we feel very, very fortunate. I’m honored to be the coach here at UC Irvine and I’m grateful to the administration staff here for giving me the opportunity to succeed.
Q: Going back to this season, how would you say your team is prepared for the long journey ahead?
A: You know, we’ve got a long way to go. We were really good last year early and then weren’t able to sustain it. So we’re at the beginning of the journey with this group. But I like what I’ve seen so far from this group.
Q: How can you guys build off the success you had earlier in the year and replicate it late in the season with a chance to advance to the NCAA tournament on the line?
A: It’s really difficult for young guys to handle success. We have to stay hungry, we have to stay motivated. We know that every team we play is going to badly want to beat us because of the success we’ve sustained, but we’re gonna have to keep working, competing and demanding good performances out of each other to get what we want. We won’t be able to do it every night, but we’re gonna have to respond well when we don’t and respond well when we do. It’s a big challenge in front of us, but I’m excited to see how we handle it.
Welp sat down with the New University to share his thoughts of Turner as a coach.
Q: How did Coach Turner help shape you as a player throughout your career?
A: Coach Turner taught me a lot about being a leader on and off the court. One thing he definitely does is he’s always gonna tell you what you need to hear. You might not always like it, but you’re gonna need to hear it if you wanna get better even though you might not see it or agree. And he’s always gonna have his players back no matter the situation. I think those are both things I needed early and throughout my career which helped me get better every year.
Another former player for Coach Turner, Eyassu Worku shared his thoughts on how his former coach helped him become a better man on and off the court.
Q: How did Coach Turner help you develop as a person off the court?
A: He’s been a great coach to me. He taught me how to take criticism well and be open to new ideas. He was really hard on me, you know, like, all the time, but I knew that, like, at the end of the day, it was for the best for me.
Q: How has Coached Turner helped you develop as a player?
A: Coach Turner is the most motivated coach I’ve ever played for. Everybody on the team knows how badly he wants it and if anybody can get it done, he can.
Worku, along with Welp, were a part of the 2018-2019 Anteater squad, the only team in UCI men’s basketball history to ever win an NCAA tournament game.
Q: What made that team so successful and how much of a sense of pride do you feel being able to accomplish that feat?
A: I mean, that was one of the main goals that we had when Turner recruited me. All those you know, hard practices, all the running, all that stuff, like it’s all worth it man to play in that tournament and to win that was a huge accomplishment and one of the main successes I still look back on today.
You can keep up with Coach Turner and the Anteaters through the rest of the season on ESPN+, as they search for their third trip to March Madness and second NCAA tournament win in 13 seasons.
James Huston is a 2022-23 Sports Co-Editor. He can be reached at hustonj@uci.edu.