Oklahoma basketball: New coach Porter Moser makes first hire
By Chip Rouse
New Oklahoma basketball head coach Porter Moser has made his first hire, according to The Oklahoman and multiple other news sources.
And he has gone south of the Red River and into OU’s rivalry state of Texas to do so.
K.T. Turner, who was an assistant head coach at Texas last season under Shaka Smart is reportedly joining Moser in Norman. Turner spent just one season at Texas after seven years prior to that as an assistant at SMU.
Turner was hired at SMU by legendary head coach Larry Brown. In Turner’s seven seasons there, the Mustangs went 160-71 and won a couple of American Athletic Conference regular-season titles and conference tournaments.
Sources: Oklahoma's Porter Moser will hire K.T. Turner as an assistant coach. Was previously on staff at Texas.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 5, 2021
Three SMU players went on to the NBA while Turner was coaching there: Semi Ojeleye (currently with the Boston Celtics), Sterling Brown (with the Houston Rockets) and Shake Milton (Philadelphia 76ers).
The new Oklahoma assistant also spent one season at Wichita State under Greg Marshall, the same season (2013) that the Shockers advanced to the Final Four.
Ironically, Turner was serving as the interim head coach for Texas last season when the Oklahoma defeated the Longhorns 80-79 on a pair of late free throws by All-Big 12 First-Team selection Austin Reaves. Shaka Smart and a couple of Texas players missed that game because of COVID-19 protocols.
Turner has a tie to the state of Oklahoma. He played collegiate basketball at Oklahoma City University in the early 2000s. His second coaching position was at Redlands Community College. located about 25 miles west of Oklahoma City. Redlands was 29-2 the season Turner was an assistant there (in 2006-07).