Busting Brackets
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Missouri Valley Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

By Joey Loose

ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Members of the Bradley Braves celebrate after beating the Northern Iowa Panthers in the final game of MVC Basketball Tournament at the Enterprise Center on March 10, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Bradley Braves beat the Northern Iowa Panthers 57-54 to win the MVC Championship. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Members of the Bradley Braves celebrate after beating the Northern Iowa Panthers in the final game of MVC Basketball Tournament at the Enterprise Center on March 10, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Bradley Braves beat the Northern Iowa Panthers 57-54 to win the MVC Championship. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /
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COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND – MARCH 08: Head coach Mark Turgeon of the Maryland Terrapins (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND – MARCH 08: Head coach Mark Turgeon of the Maryland Terrapins (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

7. Missouri Valley Basketball coach – Mark Turgeon (Wichita State, 2000-2007)

When Turgeon was hired in 2000, this Wichita State program was nowhere near the dominance force we know today. The Shockers hadn’t even been in the NCAA Tournament since 1988 and had been struggling in MVC play for several years. They certainly have turned a corner over the course of the last two decades, and Turgeon played a definite role as they started to flip the switch.

Turgeon began his rebuild and started seeing results by his third season. The Shockers were 12-6 and made the NIT for three straight years before the real success in 2006. After winning the MVC regular-season title, the Shockers took a 7-seed to the Sweet Sixteen before getting upended by Cinderella team George Mason. After nearly two decades of struggle, Turgeon had led them not only back to the Tournament but into the second weekend.

While Turgeon would leave for Texas A&M in 2007, his success set up the Shockers for big things in the future. It’s easy to give Gregg Marshall all of the credit for the Shockers’ recent success, but he inherited a program in 2007 that was in much better shape than what Turgeon was working with a few years earlier. Meanwhile, Turgeon took advantage of that postseason success, leading to his success at Texas A&M and now Maryland.