Wayne Keon Turner (born March 22, 1976) is a retired 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. He played high school basketball at

Beaver Country Day School Beaver Country Day School is an independent, college-preparatory day school for students in grades 6 through 12 founded in 1920. The school is located on a campus in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, near Boston. Beaver is a member ...

in Brookline, Massachusetts. As a star point guard for the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

during a four-year period in which they won two national titles ( 1996 and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

) and lost in the championship game once (

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

). He set the NCAA record for games played (which has since been broken) with 151 games in his four-year

career.Guard played for two NCAA champions - Men's College Basketball - ESPN
/ref>
/ref> During his college career he appeared twice on the cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'' magazine. Following his college years he played for the NBA's Boston Celtics and the

International Basketball League The International Basketball League (IBL) was a semi-professional men's basketball league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States. In 2010 the Albany Legends became the first team in the Northeastern United States to join. The I ...

's Cincinnati Stuff. In 2000, he signed with the Harlem Globetrotters. In 2002, he played for the

Dakota Wizards The Dakota Wizards were an American professional basketball team based in Bismarck, North Dakota. They played in the NBA Development League from 2006 until 2012. After the 2011–12 season, the team relocated to Santa Cruz, California, and now pl ...

of the Continental Basketball Association and helped the team win the 2002 CBA Championship. Turner rejoined the Wizards in 2005, helping them reach the play-offs. In 2008, he returned to the CBA as a member of the East Kentucky Miners. Turner also played as an import (non-local) in the Italian team

Andrea Costa Imola Andrea Costa Imola is an Italian professional basketball team based in Imola, Emilia-Romagna. The side is playing in the second division Serie A2 Basket, Serie A2 as of the 2015-16 season. History Andrea Costa Basket was founded on 4 October 1967, ...

(September to December 2001), and in the

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

n National Basketball League for the

Townsville Crocodiles The Townsville Crocodiles were an Australian professional men's basketball team based in the North Queensland city of Townsville. They competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games at the Townsville Entertainmen ...

(2002–03), before his contract was terminatedBreakers playing smart with imports , Stuff.co.nz
/ref> following charges laid in the U.S. after police found an illegally possessed 9mm handgun, loaded with 12 rounds, in his rental car. Turner said the case was eventually dismissed in 2005. He also signed a one-year deal (2007–08) with the NBL's

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Sky Sport Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at ...

. In September 2010, he returned to the University of Kentucky to finish his undergraduate degree, and joined the men's basketball staff at his alma mater. Turner was also the Director of Player Development for the men's basketball team at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...

, working under his former coach

Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (born September 18, 1952) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach for Iona College. He was also the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA ...

and briefly under

David Padgett David Christopher Padgett (born February 13, 1985) is an American former basketball coach and player. As a college basketball player, he had played for the Kansas Jayhawks before transferring and finishing his career at Louisville. High school ...

In literature

Wayne Turner is mentioned in Frank X Walker's poem "Death by Basketball," found in his volume of poetry,
Affrilachia
'.

References

External links

Kentucky Wildcats player biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Wayne 1976 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Australia American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand American men's basketball players Andrea Costa Imola players Basketball players from Boston Boston Celtics players Cincinnati Stuff players Dakota Wizards (CBA) players Harlem Globetrotters players Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans New Zealand Breakers players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards Spirou Charleroi players Townsville Crocodiles players Undrafted National Basketball Association players Beaver Country Day School alumni

In literature

See also

References

External links