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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Former Hayden star and Kansas Jayhawk Mark Turgeon has been named the head coach of Kansas City men's basketball heading into the 2026-27 season, UMKC Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Dr. Brandon Martin announced on Sunday in a release from the school.

Mark Turgeon (right), who has been named head basketball coach at UMKC for the 2026-2027 season, visited with Hayden athletic director Bobby Taul during a Hayden Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2022. [File photo/TSN]

Turgeon, a member of the Topeka Shawnee County, Hayden and Kansas Sports hall of fames, becomes UMKC's ninth head coach since the program elevated to NCAA Division I in 1987-88.

 "We are delighted to welcome Coach Turgeon and his wife Ann to the Roo family. It's exciting to have them both back home in the Midwest," Martin said in the UMKC release. "Coach Turgeon brings a wealth of credibility and success for our fan base, alumni, donors and key stakeholders throughout Kansas City.

"This will undoubtedly be an exciting and rewarding era for our Roo basketball program."

Turgeon was a two-time Class 4A state champion at Hayden and helped lead Ben Meseke's Wildcats to a perfect 25-0 record as a senior in 1983.  

Turgeon was a four-year letter-winner for the Kansas men's basketball program and the first Jayhawk to qualify for four NCAA Tournaments, including a Final Four run in 1986.

Turgeon also spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Kansas and seven years as the head coach at Wichita State.

"It is an honor to be returning home and to be trusted to build a winning tradition with Kansas City men's basketball," Turgeon said in the UMKC release. "It was obvious through our initial conversations that I could build a strong partnership with Dr. Martin and chancellor (Mauli) Agrawal. I've always had a great love for Kansas City, and I believe that this city deserves a team that reflects its championship culture.

"There is so much untapped potential and with the full strength of the Kansas City community behind us, we will be able to elevate this program to new heights." 

Turgeon brings 24 years of head coaching experience and a career winning percentage of .634 between stops at Maryland, Texas A&M, Wichita State and Jacksonville State.

"We are thrilled to welcome a new leader for Kansas City's Division I basketball program at such an exciting time for our university and city," Agrawal said in the UMKC release. "Coach Turgeon brings the vision, record and competitive drive that align perfectly with our commitment to excellence – on the court, in the classroom and in the community.

"His hiring is part of our broader investments in elevating the university and strengthening programs that bring pride and momentum to our campus. We believe this is the start of a new chapter will raise the profile of our program and make our university community proud." 

Across his 24 seasons as a head coach, Turgeon has amassed a 476-275 overall record, which puts him in the top 30 in career wins among active NCAA Division I head coaches.

He has taken teams to the NCAA Tournament 10 times with a pair of Sweet 16 appearances and winning records in 21 of his 24 years on the sidelines.

Turgeon's most recent head coaching tenure was spent at the University of Maryland from 2011-21, finishing with a winning record in all 11 seasons. His 2015-16 squad finished 27-9, advancing to the Sweet 16, and in 2019-20, the Terrapins compiled a 24-7 record and won the Big Ten regular-season title.

From 2007-12 Turgeon manned the sidelines at Texas A&M, compiling a 97-40 overall record and finishing top four in the Big 12 in each of his final three seasons. His squads earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament all four years.

Turgeon took over a Wichita State program in 2000-01 season that had posted just two winning seasons in the previous 11 years and went .500-or-better in 6 of his 8 seasons at the helm, compiling three 20-win seasons.

In 2005-06 the Shockers won the Missouri Valley regular-season championship and qualified for program's first NCAA Tournament appearance in nearly 20 years. Wichita State went on to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1981. 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn University women's basketball bounced back from a Thursday night loss to No. 5-ranked Fort Hays State to pull away down the stretch to defeat Nebraska-Kearney 76-65 on the road Saturday afternoon.

Junior Madelyn Amekporfor led a balanced Washburn offensive attack with 13 points in Saturday's 76-65 MIAA road win at Nebraska-Kearney. [File photo/TSN]

Washburn improved to 15-6 overall and 8-4 in the MIAA with Saturday's win, earning a regular-season sweep over the Lopers, 11-12, 4-8. 

It was a quick start offensively for Washburn as the Ichabods led 8-3 after a basket by senior Gabi Giovannetti at the 7:18 mark of the first quarter.

The Lopers tied it up but the Ichabod offense shot 50.0 percent in the opening frame to build an 18-14 lead.  

The first of three 3-pointers for junior Madelyn Amekporfor pushed the lead to seven to open the scoring in the second. Nebraska-Kearney chipped away before tying the game up at 28. 

The Lopers scored five in a row to go in front 37-35, but Washburn sophomore Brooke Gomez knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Ichabods up 38-37 at the half. 

Both sides traded baskets for much of the third quarter while the Ichabods remained in front the whole way. The Ichabods created separation with the final four points coming from Gomez and junior Britany Kogbara to lead 57-52 heading into the fourth.  

The Lopers made a run early in the fourth, tying the game at 59 with a 3-pointer at the 7:28 mark.

Washburn re-gained the lead but it was cut back down to one before the the Ichabods responded with an 8-0 run to lead by nine after junior Kellyn Hunter scored on a driving layup with 2:16 left.

Senior Payton Sterk put the game away with four free throws in the final minute to finish off the 11-point win.  

Washburn shot a season-high 52.1 percent from the field along with an efficient 5-12 from 3-point range and 21-24 at the line. The Ichabods held the Lopers to 37.1-percent shooting while the home squad shot 41.7 percent from deep with 10 makes.  

The rebounding battle was won by the Ichabods, 34-29, helping to generate a 34-22 advantage in paint scoring. Nebraska Kearney turned the ball over four fewer times than Washburn, but the Ichabods scored seven more points off giveaways.  

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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

Shawnee Heights girls basketball saw its 10-game winning streak snapped in Friday's Capital City Classic semifinal at the hands of Derby, but the T-Birds would answer the call against Garden City in Saturday's third-place game, posting an 80-68 victory at Topeka High.

Shawnee Heights junior KK Emmot, an all-tournament pick, scored a game-high 25 points in Saturday's 80-68 Capital City Classic win over Garden City. [File photo/TSN]

“Super, because after you lose a game like that, you kind of just need to adjust, take it away from your mind and stuff,” T-Bird junior all-tournament KK Emmot said on the importance of bouncing back.

“Yeah, it was very important for us, especially to not stay on the loss and drag that with us to a new day. Just forget about it and stay in our game, and keep a good record for the season,” Heights junior Pearmella Carter agreed.

Carter and her teammates had no problem answering the call as they would hit 12 3-pointers with six of those coming in the first quarter.

Emmot would hit three treys in the first quarter as she would score 11 of her game-high 25 over the first eight minutes to help her team take a commanding 28-16 lead.

Emmot and senior Imani McGlory would hit eight combined 3s in the game.

“KK and Imani have just done a great job of stepping up and helping lead the team,'' Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. "And, you know teams have a hard time sagging off or going and covering up one without leaving the other one open. And our girls are doing a good job of finding them and getting them the ball.”

“I feel like warming up, it just felt good. Everything was flowing,” McGlory said.

“I think they their main goal was to keep us on one side of the floor,'' Emmot said. "And so they completely shifted to one side, and we could just kick it to the other side, and we'll just have an open three and we're all shooters.”

Heights would continue to be hot in the second quarter and take a 44-35 lead into the locker room at the halftime break.

The third quarter would see Garden City try to make a run and get back into the game as they would get KK to pick up her 4th foul and escape the third trailing Heights, 58-50.

But the fourth quarter would be all Heights as they would hit four more 3-pointers, with senior Reianna Vega hitting her third 3 of the night, and Carter scoring eight of her 15 points down the stretch to secure the win.

“She is just so tough inside, and she's a special kind of player, because we can play her in the post, or we can put her out on the perimeter, and she causes some definite matchup problems,” Wells said about Carter.

“That was important for us, especially in the end, because they kept fouling, they were kind of coming back a little bit, so I just had to stay locked in and make the free throws,” Carter said.

SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 80, GARDEN CITY 68

Garden City         16 19 15 18 -- 68

Shawnee Heights 28 16 15 21 -- 80

Garden City (9-7) -- Korf 6-8 2-2 17, Snodgrass 6-11 5-8 17, Hannagan 5-17 0-0 14, Powers 4-9 0-0 12, Meng 1-2 2-2 4, Doll 2-4 0-0 4, Brown 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-54 9-12 68.

Shawnee Heights (12-4) -- Emmot 9-17 3-5 25, McGlory 7-13 2-2 20, Carter 3-6 9-10 15, Vega 4-8 0-0 11, Baum 2-5 0-0 4, Schmidt 1-1 0-0 3, Hamilton 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 27-51 14-17 80.

3-point goals -- Garden City 11 (Powers 4, Hannagan 4, Korf 3), Shawnee Heights 12 (Emmot 4, McGlory 4, Vega 3, Schmidt). Total fouls -- Garden City 20, Heights 13. Fouled Out -- Garden City.

Vikings run past Trojans for 75-60 win to capture fifth place

The Vikings would lead from start to finish in Saturday's fifth-place game on the way to a 75-60 win over host Topeka High.

Seaman’s Lydia Dreher would score the first six points before Cara Beaton would hit her first of five 3- pointers to make it 9-0 Vikings.

Junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton would hit a 3 to stop the run but the Vikings would not stop there as they would hit 4 3s to go up 22-11. The Trojans would answer and go on an 8-0 run to end the first quarter trailing 22-16.

But the Vikings would force the Trojans to hit a wall as they would go on an 18-9 run in the second quarter to go into halftime up 40-25.

The Trojans got 10 points from Hailey Caryl in the first half and would come out the break with Caryl getting two baskets.  But the Vikings would answer and go on an 8-3 run to stretch the lead to 20 at 50-30.

Senior Maddie Gragg would score seven of her 20 points in the final minutes of the third stanza to help her team take a 59-39 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Trojans just could not find the stops they needed on defense to make a late-game comeback as Gragg would continue to light it up with six more points in the fourth.

The Trojans' Keimara Marshall would get five of her 12 points in the fourth, but it just wouldn’t be enough as the Vikings would get the 15-point win.

“Before the game, we just talked about belief,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "I told the girls, 'Do the things that are hard to do and the power will come.' And I told them, 'You contribute in your way to help us be successful.' And I'm just really proud of their belief and the fight that they showed and the confidence that they played with.

"We had girls step up, they were sharing the ball. And it helps shoot the ball like we did, too. Man, we were on fire there at the start, but just going back to my message, you can do hard things, and you can do them together. And this was a great team win today. We had everybody step up.”

“We really wanted to push the pace, start off strong,'' Beaton said. "We've been struggling to start off strong in the first half, so our goal today was to start strong, push some points, push the pace. And yeah. It was really big for everyone, and I was proud of everybody.”

“I knew that we had to come out strong in the third quarter, because sometimes we struggle with that like the first quarter,'' Gragg said. "But I just knew that we had to keep putting points on the board because Topeka High wasn't going to give up.”

The Trojans would be led in scoring by Caryl, who would lead all scorers with 22.

Topeka High's Rayton was named the Capital City Classic Most Valuable Player.

SEAMAN 75, TOPEKA HIGH 60

Topeka High 16 9 14 21 -- 60

Seaman         22 18 19 16 -- 75

Topeka High (6-8) -- Caryl 6-11 9-11 22, Rayton 5-13 2-6 15, Marshall 5-12 0-0 12, Gotru 0-7 2-2 2, Short 0-0 0-0 0, Whayne 2-3 5, Brown 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 20-48 13-19 60.

Seaman (7-5) -- Beaton 6-8 4-5 21, Gragg 8-16 4-6 20, Dreher 5-8 3-3 13, Puvogel 4-5 2-6 11, Spencer 2-6 0-0 5, Ketron 1-2 0-0 3, Ayres 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 27-47 13-20 75.

3-point goals -- Topeka High 7 (Dayton 3, Marshall 2, Caryl, Whayne), Seaman 8 (Beaton 5, Ketron, Puvogel, Spencer). Total Fouls -- Topeka High 16, Seaman 14. Fouled out --Short.

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