Jamaican Basketball Association (JABA) President Paulton Gordon has announced that veteran US coach Rick Turner will be the national co-ordinator and coach for the Jamaica’s men’s basketball programme.

Turner has coached at every level of the game, from six-year olds all the way to the NBA and everywhere in between. And as he approaches his 20th year of leading the Jumpball Basketball Programme in Kingston, Turner turns to a new and exciting challenge.

“I am so excited about this opportunity and the chance to be a part of a leadership team that puts Jamaican basketball on the map, on the international stage,” Turner said.

“From the moment I first walked off the plane in Kingston back in 1999, I fell in love with the country and the incredible Jamaican people who have always treated me with genuine kindness and respect. The passion of the Jamaican people, the knowledge of the game, along with the outstanding athletic talent made me realise right away that there was great potential for a world-class programme,” he said.

Turner comes to the men’s national team with 30 years of coaching experience, having coached his first team at the young age of 19. He went on to work for nine seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics, first assisting director of scouting Gary Wortman and later with head coaches Bernie Bickerstaff and George Karl.

He left the Sonics to pursue coaching full-time and started as an assistant at Bellevue College before becoming the school’s head coach. Under Turner’s leadership, the Helmsmen went to the NWAACC tournament three-straight years, including a final four appearance and a Coach of the Year award.

Turner left Bellevue and spent a season at the University of Washington with Coach Lorenzo Romar. That year, behind Nate Robinson and Brandon Roy, the Huskies went to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

A long, strange basketball trip began from there, as Turner went on to coach teams in the Continental Basketball Association, the American Basketball Association, and even the Chinese Basketball Association. It was on this journey that he decided to write a book, which he did, titled If My Name Was Phil Jackson…Would You Read This? The anonymous adventures of an anonymous coach, which chronicles the crazy adventures of life in the hinterlands of professional basketball.

JABA’s President Gordon, reacting to Turner’s new role, said: “I met with coach Turner over the summer and invited him to be a part of our Star Search Camp at GC Foster College. It became apparent right away that Jamaica held a special place for him and that his work within the country over the many years gave him a unique knowledge and perspective. After talking about our shared interests and sharing our visions for the programme, we decided that adding coach Turner to our team was something important moving forward.”