CORPUS CHRISTI -
Head Coach Willis
Wilson has rounded out the Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
basketball staff with the addition of Kenneth (K.T.) Turner as an
assistant coach, it was announced today. Wilson also announced that
Mark
Dannhoff, who completed his first season as an assistant coach
this past year, will remain a part of the Islanders staff.
"K.T. is a great, young basketball mind," Wilson said. "He will
be an outstanding role model for our student-athletes and brings
experience and energy that will make him an outstanding recruiter
as well. While I've only known Mark a short time, it doesn't take
long at all to see that he's an outstanding teacher of the game of
basketball, and I know all of our players have the utmost respect
for him. Joined with Coach [Marty] Gross, these two give us a
tremendous staff that will lead us to success this year and well
beyond."
Turner comes to the Island University after spending the last
two years at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. In his two years
at HCC, Turner helped lead the Blue Dragons to a combined record of
52-12 and to the Region VI semifinals in both years. The Blue
Dragons had not gone that far in the playoffs since the 2003-04
season prior to Turner's arrival.
"I can't fully express how excited I am to join the Texas
A&M - Corpus Christi family," Turner said. "Coach Wilson has
long been a mentor to me, and to work with him at a place with such
potential for greatness will be a privilege and an honor. I know
great things are ahead of us with Islanders Basketball."
Prior to joining the staff at HCC, Turner spent one year as an
assistant to current HCC Coach Steve Eck at Cowley College, where
the team went 29-5 and advanced to the Region VI title game in his
only season. Prior to that, he spent a year as an assistant at
Northern Arizona, as he and the Lumberjacks put up a 21-11 season
with a 12-4 mark in Big Sky action. He also had stints as an
assistant at Redlands Community College and Panola (Texas) Junior
College.
In his playing days at HCC, Turner was a third-team All-Jayhawk
Conference Western Division selection and also the Most Valuable
Player of the 1998 Hutchinson Classic. As a Blue Dragon player from
1997 to 1999 under head coach Tim Jankovic, Turner's teams went
50-14 combined with one trip to the Region VI semifinals.
After two years at HCC, Turner transferred to UT-Arlington for
one season before finishing his collegiate playing career at
Oklahoma City University. At OCU, Turner helped the Stars reach the
Final Four of the NAIA National Basketball Tournament. Turner went
on to play professional basketball for Benneton Treviso in Treviso,
Italy.
Turner and his wife, Cassaundra, have two children, Kelis and
Kenneth III (Trey). He earned his bachelor's degree in criminal
justice from Oklahoma City University in 2003.
The 2010-11 season was Dannhoff's 20th year as a college coach,
having previously worked in the collegiate ranks as an assistant at
Texas - Pan American during the 2008-09 season. In all, he has been
an assistant coach on nine collegiate coaching staffs and a head
coach at Northland Community College for five seasons. He was also
the interim head coach at Texas - Pan American during his stint
with the Broncs.
