After spoiling Danny Manning’s debut as Maryland’s interim coach, Northwestern men’s basketball head coach Chris Collins spoke on Mark Turgeon stepping down as the Terrapins’ coach.
“I hope Coach Turgeon is being celebrated for what he did here,” Collins said per Lauren Rosh of Testudo Times. “For ten years I competed against that guy for a couple of years at Duke when I was an assistant, eight years in the Big Ten and I can tell you, trying to prepare to play against his teams, the players he has here, the winning, the way he did it, the kind of person he is.
“He’s a good basketball coach and a good man,” Collins continued. “So, I hope everyone around here will celebrate him for his tenure as you guys move forward.”
Turgeon and Maryland mutually agreed to part ways Friday. He officially resigned while Maryland will honor his $5 million buyout.
Turgeon had the inevitable task of following Maryland’s greatest head coach Gary Williams. Turgeon coached 10 full seasons, leading the Terrapins to one Sweet 16 appearance.
He consistently got good recruits. But, the results he posted weren’t good enough to many of the Maryland faithful. Turgeon was always compared to the Williams era, which produced four ACC championships, seven trips to the Sweet 16, two Final Four appearances and a national championship in 2002.
Manning will serve as interim coach for the remainder of the season. Sunday, Northwestern topped the Terrapins 67-61 in Manning’s first game leading Maryland.
