Independence Community College is excited to welcome Jim Turgeon as Head Women’s Basketball Coach for the Pirates!
Prior to coming to Indy, Coach Turgeon served as the Head Coach at University of Denver (NCAA DI), Colorado State University – Pueblo (NCAA DII), Iowa Western Community College (NJCAA), and Dodge City Community College (NJCAA). He has over 20 years of women’s basketball head coaching experience with over 400 wins.
He was most recently the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at the University of Denver for the past three seasons. In his first year at Denver, Coach Turgeon’s Pioneers had the best turnaround in the NCAA, improving from 6-24 to 16-14. In his second year, the Pioneers improved to 18-14 and won their first WNIT game in program history. In Turgeon’s third year, the Pioneers finished the season 15-15 overall and 9-7 in league play, the program’s third straight season finishing .500 or better. Throughout his time at Denver, the Pioneers ranked at the top of NCAA Division 1 in several categories, including scoring offense (11th), 3-point percentage (3rd), 3-points made (12th), blocked shots (20th), assists per game (38th) and free throws made (3rd), following the 2018-2019 season.
Before accepting the job at the University of Denver, Coach Turgeon was the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at CSU-Pueblo. In his two seasons leading the Thunderwolves, the team recorded back-to-back school record winning seasons (26-6 and 28-4). After leading the ‘Wolves to their first conference championship in almost 30 years, Turgeon was recognized as the 2017 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. Turgeon coached several All-Conference Players at CSU-Pueblo, including Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, and Defensive Player of the Year.
Prior to coaching at the four-year level, Turgeon was very successful as a head coach at the community college level. He is the winningest coach in Iowa Western Community College history, after leading the Reivers to 191 wins and setting a school record with 31 wins in 2014-2015. During his eight year tenure, the Reivers won three Region VI titles with five top 25 finishes and three top 5 finishes, nationally. He is also the 2nd all-time winningest coach at Dodge City CC with 124 wins from 2000-2007 as a member of the Jayhawk Conference.
ICC Athletic Director, Eric Figurski, is very excited about the hire, “We wanted a proven recruiter and winner. We wanted an experienced and innovative coach that understands what it takes to compete at the highest level of college athletics. We wanted a coach that would support the other athletic programs and serve the community. We have some great coaches that have ‘set the standard’ for Indy Athletics and we believe that Coach Turgeon will build a program that will live up to that standard – regularly competing for conference championships and sending student-athletes to the next level.”
Coach Turgeon is a Kansas native, born and raised in Topeka, along with his three sisters, Tami, Cindi, Jennifer, and brother, Mark. He has two children, Thomas and Taylor, with his wife, Tracey. His father, Bob, coached Hayden High School in Topeka, while his brother, Mark, is currently the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at the University of Maryland. His son, Thomas, is an assistant to the Women’s Basketball program at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, TX.
https://www.indypirates.com/sports/wbkb/Pirates_Land_Turgeon_as_Head_WBB_Coach
