Wayne Turner (basketball)

Wayne Turner
Personal information
Born (1976-03-22) March 22, 1976
Boston, Massachusetts
Listed height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight 190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school Beaver Country Day School
(Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts)
College Kentucky (1995–1999)
NBA draft 1999 / Undrafted
Playing career 1999–2008
Position Guard
Number 5
Career history
1999 Boston Celtics
1999–2000 Cincinnati Stuff
2000 Harlem Globetrotters
2001 Andrea Costa Imola
2002 Dakota Wizards
2002–2003 Townsville Crocodiles
2005 Dakota Wizards
2005–2006 Spirou Basket
2006 Boston Frenzy
2007–2008 New Zealand Breakers
2008 East Kentucky Miners

Wayne Keon Turner (born March 22, 1976) is a retired American professional basketball player. He played high school basketball at Beaver Country Day School in Brookline, Massachusetts. As a star point guard for the Kentucky Wildcats during a four-year period in which they won two national titles (1996 and 1998) and lost in the championship game once (1997). He set the NCAA record for games played (which has since broken) with 151 games in his four-year Kentucky Wildcats career.[1][2]

During his college career he appeared twice on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. Following his college years he played for the NBA's Boston Celtics and the International Basketball League's Cincinnati Stuff.[3] In 2000 he signed with the Harlem Globetrotters.[4] In 2002 he played for the Dakota Wizards 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.

Wayne Turner also played as an import (non-local) in the Italian team Andrea Costa Imola (September to December 2001),[5] and in the Australasian National Basketball League for the Townsville Crocodiles (2002–03), before his contract was terminated[6] following charges laid in the U.S. after police found an illegally possessed 9mm handgun, loaded with 12 rounds, in his rental car.[1] Turner said the case was eventually dismissed in 2005.[6] He also signed a one-year deal (2007–08) with the NBL's New Zealand Breakers.[7]

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.[2] Currently, Turner is the Director of Player Development for the men's basketball team at the University of Louisville, working under his former college coach Rick Pitino. He has two daughters Velvelina and Micaela.

In literature

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

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.