ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 13, 1997 TAG: 9703130052
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK THE ROANOKE TIMES
Russell Turner has made the most of an opportunity to work with Dave Odom as an assistant basketball coach at Wake Forest.
Russell Turner wants everyone in his hometown to know he feels like he has won the lottery, and he didn't even have to buy a ticket.
``That's what I tell everybody in the coaching world,'' said Turner, a Roanoke native and Wake Forest assistant basketball coach headed for his third consecutive NCAA Tournament on the Demon Deacons' bench. ``I was in the right place at the right time.
``I became one of the main beneficiaries when the restricted-earnings position was created [by the NCAA]. It was put in to pave the way for young guys into major-college basketball coaching. Not a lot of head coaches used the rule the way it was designed. I'm just glad Dave Odom did.''
It isn't that Turner, a former Patrick Henry High School hoops star, didn't pave his own way into the same locker room with Tim Duncan, whom Turner has taught and learned from as well. Turner met Odom at Hampden-Sydney, where the PH graduate became the Tigers' career scoring leader and was runner-up for NCAA Division III player of the year honors.
One of the Wake head coach's sons, Ryan, was an undersized underclassman at guard. Turner had returned to his alma mater in 1993-94 as an assistant to head coach Tony Shaver, after a year of teaching and coaching at Darlington, a private school in Rome, Ga. The younger Odom found a tutor and friend in Turner.
``Ryan was struggling, and I probably helped him more off the court than I did on it,'' Turner said. ``I know Coach Odom was concerned about Ryan, and he appreciated the help I gave him. When he had an opening, he called and said he couldn't pay me more than $16,000. He almost apologized about that, but I was a young guy and I made the move.''
Turner felt bad about bailing out on Shaver after only nine months on the Tigers' staff, until he learned Shaver had phoned Odom promoting him. In three years on the Deacons' staff, Turner has been part of two ACC championship teams, 75 victories and a seventh consecutive NCAA bid for Odom's program, beginning Friday against St.Mary's (Calif.) in Tucson, Ariz.
``Really, there was a lot of hesitancy about moving,'' said Turner, 26. ``I was the happiest guy in the world back at Hampden-Sydney. I was working with Coach Shaver, a man I admire and like, and I was in a situation where I felt I could help. Then, he told me that deciding to go to Wake was a no-brainer. He still had to convince me to do it.''
Turner thought he wanted to be a schoolteacher, but he learned during his year in Georgia that he was only partly correct about his desires. ``I guess I was too idealistic about teaching,'' said Turner, who taught English, government and economics at Darlington.
``I really admire people who are devoted to teaching,'' he said. ``In teaching, somewhere, you will always have people in the classroom who really don't want to learn. They're just there because they have to be there. Coaching is different. In basketball and other sports, kids are there because they want to play.''
Turner's experience in the Wake program has brought him to the conclusion that he would like to become a Division I head coach - although not at just any program. He likes the small enrollment and the academically challenging atmosphere on the Winston-Salem, N.C., campus. It reminds him of his Division III days, except when he goes to basketball practice, ``where when you have someone like Tim Duncan, amazing things can happen.''
Odom has involved Turner in every phase of the Deacons' program except off-campus recruiting, and Turner appreciates the amount of responsibility he has been given by Odom and assistants Ernie Nestor and Ricky Stokes.
``Coach Odom has worked with two of the premier big men in the game's history,'' Turner said. ``He worked with Ralph Sampson when [Odom] was an assistant at Virginia, and now he's had Timmy here. Coach Nestor was a head coach [at George Mason] and could be again. Ricky will be a head coach some day not too far down the road, maybe very soon. That those guys have accepted someone like me, I'm just grateful.''
Turner also admits he is somewhat spoiled.
``We only lost three games during my career at PH,'' said Turner, who started on the Patriots' 1988 Group AAA championship team. ``At Hampden-Sydney, we learned to win while I was there, and we got to the [Division III] Sweet Sixteen my senior year [and again during his year coaching at Hampden-Sydney]. Here, I walked into a situation that was good and has only gotten better.''
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: GREENSBORO NEWS & RECORD. Russell Turner says he wouldby CNBlike to be a head coach at the Division I level, preferably at a
school with the small enrollment and academic atmosphere of his
current employer, Wake Forest. color.