Russell Turner named new UC Irvine men’s basketball coach

Russell Turner, 39, a Golden State Warriors assistant for the past six seasons, has been named the new coach for the UC Irvine men’s basketball team, the school announced today.

He takes over for Pat Douglass, whose contract was not renewed at the end of the season.

As expected Turner has ties to Stanford University, where UCI athletic director Mike Izzi worked before coming to the Anteaters.

Prior to Golden State, Turner spent 11 seasons as a college assistant coach, working at three programs, including Stanford and Wake Forest.

A native of Roanoke, Virginia, Turner worked also for one season (1993-94) as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Hampden-Sydney (Va.) College.

“I am honored and extremely excited to be chosen to lead the men’s basketball program at UCI,” Turner said in a release. “In many ways this is a dream job for me because of the culture of excellence within this University.”

Turner has had numerous responsibilities under head coach Don Nelson at Golden State, including assisting with game planning, analyzing opponent tendencies and individual player skill development.

“I think that UC Irvine has made an outstanding choice,” said Coach Don Nelson, the all-time winningest coach in NBA history. “Russ is one of the best young coaches that I’ve ever worked with and I’ve felt that all he needed was a chance – and now he has that chance. He has a very bright future.”

Turner was a member of Mike Montgomery’s Stanford University staff from 2000-04 when the Cardinal had a combined overall record of 105-24 (.814), including 59-13 (.819) in Pac-10 play. Stanford won Pac-10 regular-season titles in 2001 and 2004, was ranked No. 1 in the polls both seasons, and advanced to the NCAA tournament each of Turner’s four years, including the West Regional final in 2001.

The list of players he worked with at Stanford includes All-Americans Josh Childress, Casey Jacobsen, Jarron Collins and Jason Collins.

Prior to Stanford, Turned worked under Dave Odom as an assistant at Wake Forest University from 1994-2000.

The Demon Deacons won 161 games in those six seasons, advancing to the NCAA tournament three times, including the Midwest Regional final in 1996. Tim Duncan was a three-time All-American during Turner’s tenure at Wake Forest.

“Russell’s body of work makes him a superb choice for our program,” UCI Athletic Director Mike Izzi said in a release. “He has worked in successful programs, gaining valuable knowledge from Hall-of-Fame caliber coaches, and has thrived in academic settings.

“He has had the opportunity to help develop some of the NBA’s top players and work closely with many outstanding collegiate competitors. Our players will benefit greatly from his experience.”

UCI has scheduled a meet-and-greet casual press conference today at Newkirk Pavilion, at Anteater Ballpark.

At UCI, Turner replaces Pat Douglass, who is the Anteaters’ winningest coach with 197 victories, including a school-record 25 in 2000-01. Douglass served 13 seasons as head coach, leading UCI to its first Big West Conference regular-season titles in 2001 and 2002, and NIT appearances both of those years.