Barbara Renee Turner (born June 8, 1984) is a former American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player currently working as an assistant coach for the

Atlanta Dream The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real e ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA). She acquired US / Turkish

dual citizenship Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...

while playing in Turkey; her name in Turkish is spelled Bahar Öztürk.

High school

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Turner played for

East Technical High School East Technical High School or East Tech is a secondary school under the operation of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District in Cleveland, Ohio. History The school, when it opened on October 5, 1908, was the first public trade school in the ci ...

in Cleveland, where she was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 2002 WBCA High School All-America Game where she scored thirteen points.

College

In her last NCAA Tournament run, Barbara Turner was unable to get her Connecticut team back to the pinnacle of women's college basketball after helping UConn win NCAA Championships in 2003 and 2004. The Huskies' 2006 Final Four bid fell short in overtime against Duke in the Elite Eight, with Turner unable to play down the stretch because of debilitating cramps.

USA Basketball

Turner was named to the team representing the US at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America. Al ...

. The team lost the opening game to Cuba, then rebounded to win their next five games, including an overtime win against Brazil. They then faced Cuba for the gold medal, falling short 75–64 to take home the silver medal. Turner averaged 5.4 points per game.

College highlights

* 2003 Big East All-Rookie Team * 2004 All-Big East Second Team * 2005 All-Big East Honorable Mention * 2005 Most Outstanding of Big East Tournament * 2005 Big East All-Tournament Team

WNBA career

Turner's dominant postseason - she averaged 22.8 points and 10.5 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament - secured her a spot in the first round of the

2006 WNBA Draft On November 16, 2005, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) held an expansion draft for the Chicago Sky. It was the first expansion draft since the 2000 season, when the WNBA welcomed the Miami Sol, Portland Fire, Indiana Fever, an ...

when Turner was taken 11th overall by the Seattle Storm. She quickly made the transition from power forward to small forward in the WNBA, starting 9 games as a rookie and appearing in all 34 games during the 2006 season, averaging 6.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists. On May 16, 2007, Turner was waived by the Seattle Storm, and two weeks later she was signed by the Houston Comets. During the 2007 season, Turner played in 22 games, averaging 4.2 points and 1.9 rebounds. On March 6, 2008, Turner was re-signed by the Comets, then traded to the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut that competes in the Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was established as the Orlando Miracle in ...

in exchange for Megan Mahoneybr>

European career

*2006 : Maccabi Ramat *2006–2007: Fenerbahçe Istanbul *2008–2009: Tarsus Belediyesi *2009–2010: Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi *2010–2012: Kayseri Kaski S.K. *2012–2013: Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi *2013–2014: Botaş SK *2014 Galatasaray OdeaBank, *2014–2015:

Orduspor Orduspor was a Turkish football club founded in 1967. The club was located in Ordu, Turkey and played their home games at 19 Eylül Stadium. The team managed to qualify for the Turkish Super League again in 2011. But, the last spell in top lev ...

*2015–2018: Hatay BŞB

Vital statistics

*Position:

Small Forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger ...

*Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) *High School:

in Cleveland, Ohio *College:

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

*Team(s): Seattle Storm 2006, Houston Comets 2007,

2008

Coaching career

On September 26, 2021, Turner joined the Houston Rockets coaching staff as a player development coach.

Awards

* Ohio Ms. Basketball (2004) awarded by Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association

University of Connecticut statistics

Notes

External links

WNBA Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Barbara 1984 births Living people Abdullah Gül Üniversitesi basketball players American emigrants to Turkey American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball players American people of Turkish descent Basketball players at the 2003 Pan American Games Basketball players from Cleveland Bendigo Spirit players Botaş SK players Fenerbahçe women's basketball players Galatasaray S.K. (women's basketball) players Hatay Büyükşehir Belediyesi (women's basketball) players Houston Comets players Houston Rockets assistant coaches Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi women's basketball players Naturalized citizens of Turkey Seattle Storm draft picks Seattle Storm players Small forwards Turkish people of African-American descent UConn Huskies women's basketball players Pan American Games competitors for the United States United States women's national basketball team players