M.K. Turk
1976-1996
M.K. Turk spent 20 seasons as the head
basketball coach at the
University of Southern
Mississippi and finished his
career as the all-time win-ningest coach in school history with 301 Golden Eagle
victories, one NIT championship, two NCAA appearances,
six NIT appearances.
After a successful stint as
athletic director and head
basketball coach at Copiah-Lincoln Junior College in
Wesson, Miss., and a couple
of seasons as an assistant
coach at the University of
Memphis, Turk took over as
coach of the Golden Eagles
for the 1976-77 and immediately began building the
program into one of the most
competitive in the nation.
Turk accomplished what
no other Southern Miss
coach has ever been able to
achieve—back to back trips
to the NCAA Tournament
and winning the National
Invitation Tournament.
Turk took the Golden
Eagles to eight post-season
appearances starting with the
1980-81 season when they
made their first ever appearance in the NIT, following a
20-7 season.
After taking the team to the
NIT again in 1985-86, Turk
and the Golden Eagles captured the 50th championship
of the event with an 84-80 win
over LaSalle in New York’s
Madison Square Garden. The
championship was a first ever
national title for a Mississippi
Division I school.
His 1989-90 squad finished 20-12 and
finished second in the regular season of the
Metro Conference and then received the
season championship and
again earned a berth to
the NCAA regionals. That
team graced the Associated
Press Top 25 pre-season
poll and went to the NCAA
Tournament ranked as one of
the nation’s top 25.
school’s first-ever NCAA bid.
The 1990-91 squad followed with a 21-8
mark, won the Metro Conference regular
