Men’s Basketball: UCI coach Turner promised new deal
A weekend flirtation with George Mason has resulted in an agreement from the UC Irvine athletic department to raise men’s basketball coach Russell Turner’s salary and extend the length of his contract, UCI Athletic Director Mike Izzi and Turner confirmed on Tuesday.
Turner, who in his fifth season guided the Anteaters to the program’s first NCAA Division I Tournament appearance, said he is happy to be staying at the school that provided him his first head coaching opportunity.
“It is interesting to be recruited in this business and I think that’s what I have allowed, is for myself to be recruited,” Turner said of the mutual interest between he and George Mason, which several media outlets reported Sunday offered Turner its head coaching position.
“In the process, I’ve recognized that there are other opportunities for me, potentially,” Turner said. “But I’m excited about what we’ve built here at Irvine. I’m excited to see how far we can take it. I feel like I’m a great fit in this community and I value that. I have a strong commitment to these players, to my staff and to this university.”
Izzi declined to reveal specifics of the new contract offer, which has yet to be signed and must be approved by University of California regents before it is finalized.
“What we are doing is extraordinary for us,” Izzi said of the proposed new deal. “We are raising the bar.”
Turner’s existing agreement is through the 2017-18 season, but Izzi said the new deal will include an extension up to but not exceeding five additional years.
While Turner acknowledged that the commitment from UCI will mean more money for him and his assistant coaches, sources confirmed that Turner took considerably less money to stay than George Mason offered.
“I fit here at Irvine and I coach for respect within my business and for the relationships that I have with these players and other benefits,” Turner said. “It’s not about the money. I believe in what we have here, and I believe in our ability to continue to improve moving forward here.”
Turner said he met with his players Monday afternoon to confirm that he was staying.
“The program is where we wanted to see the program go from the time we brought Russ here,” Izzi said. “It’s made strides year to year and this is a great opportunity for our young men, our institution and we’re excited. [Making the NCAA Tournament] puts us in a different place, relative to the basketball community.”
UCI, which won the Big West Conference regular-season title in 2013-14, won the 2015 conference tournament and the Big West’s lone guaranteed berth in the NCAA Tournament. The No. 13-seeded Anteaters led No. 4-seeded Louisville in the final minute, before falling, 57-55, in a second-round game of the East Regional on March 20 in Seattle’s KeyArena.
UCI finished 21-13 and has won 65 games over the last three seasons.