Mark Turgeon Is Still the Guy for Maryland Basketball

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Mark Leo Turgeon.

When you watch the Maryland Terrapins men’s basketball team, you will see a fiery, excited, and gray-hair-patched man walking up and down the sidelines for the Terps.

Head coach Mark Turgeon is in his third season with the Terrapins and though his team is under-achieving this year, he has yet to stop coaching and stop believing in this year’s team.

This guy wants to return Maryland to the national spotlight and I believe he will sooner rather than later.

Turgeon has been successful at every school at which he has coached. He led Jacksonville State to their first ever winning season in program history during the 1999-2000 season. At Wichita State, Turgeon took his team to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen during the 2005-2006 season. In all four years at Texas A&M, Turgeon led the Aggies to the NCAA tournament and advanced to the second-round three out of the four years.

Maryland basketball has not punched their ticket to the big dance since 2010. So far, Turgeon has only made one postseason appearance with the Terps when they advanced to the NIT semi-finals last season.

In his third season, Turgeon himself set the bar. It is NCAA Tournament or bust.

Tonight’s game against the #20 Pittsburgh Panthers is a must-win for the Terps who need to build their resume and find some momentum in ACC play.

Check out the video below from the ACC Digital Network of the head ball coach mic’d up at a recent practice.

Turgeon is still the guy for this Maryland basketball program. Having just secured the #10 recruiting class in the country for next year, he is doing the right things to build a strong foundation for the Terps to continue to grow every year.

Despite the frustrations and let-downs this season, don’t count the Terps out just yet for the big dance.

In sports, anything can happen.

Go Terps!