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5-HOUR ENERGY PUERTO RICO TIP-OFF MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 1, 2011

Mark Turgeon

TIM SIMMONS: Good morning, coach. Thank you for joining us today.
COACH TURGEON: You bet.
TIM SIMMONS: Opening question. How have pre-season practices been going for your team?
COACH TURGEON: Not bad. We were practicing pretty well, I thought making some good strides. We had an injury last week, took a step back. It was our point guard, so we have to rethink the way we're going to do things here early in the season. We're in the process of a little transformation. But the guys have been working hard.
TIM SIMMONS: Coach, obviously first year at Maryland. Has there been any of the players that were on the roster last year that have been standing out in practice and surprised you?
COACH TURGEON: Well, I think Terrell Stoglin, he was all-freshman team last year, had a good season late last year, put up some good numbers. He's practiced well, can really score the ball. Trying to make him a more complete player.
Sean Mosley really practiced well and played well in our scrimmages. He's a senior. He's done well.
Across the board, we have some guys that didn't play a lot back from the team, whether it's James Padgett, Ashton Pankey, Berend Weijs. Those are three big guys. They're playing well for us. Mike Parker, a guy that didn't play a lot last year but is practicing well. It's all their time to step up and try to produce at this level.
Then we have a freshman Nick Faust who has played well for us and has a pretty good chance to play well.
TIM SIMMONS: At Texas A&M you played this format. Do you like the way this tournament shapes up for the schedule for you?
COACH TURGEON: Well, I like the two, a day off. I like these early-season tournaments. I think they're great for bonding and bringing your team together, getting away from home, seeing where you stand nationally.
I don't know if our team's ready for three in four days. We're down to seven scholarship players. We'll have to see. We'll have to implement a couple walk-ons into our rotation. This is our schedule, this is our team. Looking forward to it. Never played in the Puerto Rican Shootout, but looking forward to this one.
TIM SIMMONS: Playing Alabama in the first round. Your thoughts about the Crimson Tide?
COACH TURGEON: Haven't studied them a lot. The Green kid and Mitchell kid are great players, special players, have had great careers, helped put Alabama basketball back on the map, so to speak. They had a great SEC season last year, made a run in the NIT to the championship game.
We know they're going to be good. They lost a few players and added some new pieces, some good pieces. I'm sure like us they're still trying to find themselves. But they're very talented and picked high. They should be excited about this season. They're in most of the top 20 polls that I've seen.
TIM SIMMONS: Second-round game will be special, Wichita State, where you coached for several years, Tad Boyle who was one of your assistants.
COACH TURGEON: You never look forward to that as a coach. A lot of great memories at Wichita State. I'll see a lot of familiar faces. Good to see some people down there. Of course, Tad and I were together a long time at Jacksonville State and Wichita State. Helped me build those programs and get where we are today.
You don't look forward to any of those games, to be quite honest with you. But you got to play them. I think the Shockers are big in their league and should be good again this year. I think Tad is going through a little bit of a rebuilding stage obviously, a little bit young kind of like our team. Either way we're going to play a black or yellow team in the second round. But it should be fun just to see some familiar faces.
TIM SIMMONS: Your football team wore some different uniforms. Are you doing anything like that this year?
COACH TURGEON: Not this year. We're not planning on it. I think we will in the future. The pride uniforms, the state flag, it will be one of those once-a-year type things that we'll do. At this point we're sticking to the uniforms we had last season, then next year we'll do some more stuff.
TIM SIMMONS: Questions for coach, please.

Q. Just checking to see if you have any new update on Alex Len yet?
COACH TURGEON: No, I don't.

Q. You alluded to this earlier, but how do you manage three games in four days with a relatively thin roster?
COACH TURGEON: Well, we're just going to have to play some walk-ons, that's the bottom line. We're going to get in foul trouble and start preparing that way. Unfortunately since Pe'Shon has gone down, we've had two scrimmages, haven't had a lot of practice time to adjust to him being gone. It showed in one of our scrimmages this weekend.
We got to just see which walk-on players are most ready to help us and give us a couple minutes here and there in the first and second half. That's the only thing you can do when you play three games in four days.
We got to get our guys in better shape. They're getting in better shape. Maybe change the way we've been practicing. We've been practicing up-tempo, playing a lot faster. Unfortunately we might not be able to do that early in the season.

Q. Just wanted to ask about Pe'Shon, what the MRI results were on him?
COACH TURGEON: Unfortunately I haven't heard anything yet. I was supposed to hear something yesterday. Didn't hear anything. He's had the MRI. Some people have looked at it. They've given me some preliminary stuff, but nothing factual, Okay, this is what the doc said after he looked at the whole thing. I know he has a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and we'll know more there because the doc not only has read the MRI but can push on his foot and see how he reacts to the pain, all that kind of stuff.
Unfortunately, I don't have anything for you. I should, but I don't. A little disappointed. Hopefully we'll have something by Wednesday.

Q. What impact of Pe'Shon's injuries, ripple effect, is that causing on your lineup?
COACH TURGEON: It's a big deal. Pe'Shon was a steady point guard for us. We only had two in the program. So it knocks us down to one. I need to move Nick Faust to point guard or backup point. He's a really good three man. But he's going to have to play point. He's not comfortable there. It puts a lot of pressure on him. Shortens our rotation.
Terrell Stoglin is more I think of a scoring point or a natural two, even at his size. Now he has to play more point. He's played point, played it his whole life.
We couldn't afford an injury to one of our two point guards, and it's happened. So we just got to adjust. This is the way it's going to be. This is our team. We'll adjust.
It's not just a little thing. Our position is not being in a position where we just plug someone in unfortunately, but we will next year.

Q. I know you can't talk specifically in recruiting about specific players, but I wonder if you can say where you are generally with your recruiting. I know you got hired in May. Can you say at least whether you've been able to accomplish what you hoped to accomplish in the recruiting so far?
COACH TURGEON: So far. We want to do more. We're not done by any stretch. We still have three scholarships on paper. So we'd like to add a piece or two before next season. But we got to add the right pieces. We're actively recruiting a lot of people. If we don't get it done early, we're going to try to do something late.
But, no, we need to do more.

Q. Your time at Wichita State, when you look back on that, what's a thing or two that was really important to your development, helping you to move on in the coaching profession?
COACH TURGEON: It was a lot of things. I was at a program where they really cared. I had to put a lot into it. I was able to build a program, pretty much do it from the ground up, which was a great experience for me. I had a great athletic director that was behind me a hundred percent, a fan base that was behind me a hundred percent.
I think second there was just tremendous coaches in that league when I was in it, Tom Davis, Royce Waltman, Dana Altman, Matt Painter, Bruce Weber. I know I'm forgetting some. There were just great coaches in that league.
At a young age, 33, 34, whatever I was, to 40, I learned a lot about basketball. I'm a much better coach today because of the seven years I spent at Wichita State. I know that. It was a great experience. I talk about that all the time. I used to thank Tom Davis all the time for making me a better press offense coach because his presses were so good. It was great timing for me at a young age to coach against such great coaches.

Q. These tournaments are a really big deal for schools like Wichita State, make a national splash. Is it a little bit different at a school like A&M or Maryland?
COACH TURGEON: No question. Unfortunately the valley has gone down to a one-bid league. It's made it even tougher on those teams. Maybe this year it's a two-bid league or a three. I've heard better things about the valley this season going into it.
No, it's paramount for them to play well. I don't know if they necessarily need to win the tournament to get in, but they got to show well. It's opportunities for them to play against BCS schools. No one wants to play Wichita, they can't get the games they need. I'm sure they'll be keyed up and ready to go because they know it's a important time for them.

Q. How have your bigs come along?
COACH TURGEON: They're coming. I think Pankey is coming the quickest. He can defend and rebound for us better than the other two. James has shown some ability to score. Him and Berend just need to know they're going to play, get relaxed, do what they do in practice.
They're all getting better, but I think Pankey is coming the quickest.
TIM SIMMONS: Coach, we'll wrap it up. Any last comments about playing in Puerto Rico?
COACH TURGEON: We're excited. I know last time Maryland went down there they won the tournament. The fans still talk about that, what a great time they had, had a heck of a season. We're looking forward to getting back down there, hopefully traveling well, bonding as a team. We're looking forward to the challenges. Obviously playing Alabama is going to be a great challenge.
TIM SIMMONS: Coach, thanks very much and we'll see you in a couple weeks in San Juan.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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