New Kentucky assistant KT Turner reveals origin of his name

Kentucky filled its assistant coach position by hiring former Oklahoma associated head coach KT Turner, who knew about John Calipari through their mutual connection with former SMU head coach Larry Brown. The Manhattan, Kansas native and coach’s son brings playing and coaching experience to the staff and a reputation as a top recruiter.

During his introductory press conference, KT Turner spoke about his relationship with John Calipari, the Kentucky fanbase and coaching tactics. But before he could do any of that, he had to clarify why he goes by KT Turner.

“It’s a long story,” said Turner. “So my real name is Kenneth Turner. When I was in high school the newspaper kept putting KT Turner, and I’m like, ‘That’s not my name.’ And I just couldn’t get away from it. It stuck with me forever. When I became a coach, I tried to do it again. Like alright I can reinvent my name so I’m like, Ken Turner, and put it on my voicemail and everything.

“Then coach (Tim) Duryea at Boise State, who was my assistant college coach, he calls me one day and he’s like, ‘You can’t change your name, You’re KT Turner, you’ve got to keep it.’ So it’s stuck with me, that’s how I got that name.”

Whether going by KT or Ken, the veteran assistant brings 17 years of college coaching experience to Kentucky. He worked many years in Texas, where he hopes to develop a further recruiting pipeline, and has a familiarity with several Wildcat players after recruiting them to his previous schools.

John Calipari on KT Turner

Shortly after announcing the hire this offseason, John Calipari released a statement on what KT Turner can bring to Kentucky as an assistant and a recruiter.

“I knew that when we had an opening, KT Turner would be our next guy I’d be calling on,” John Calipari said in a statement. “I’ve been very impressed with KT for as long as I’ve known him. He is from Cincinnati, his father worked for Tony Yates, and he still has ties to the area. He’s an established coach and someone who has a passion for development. He loves spending time in the gym working with kids and helping them continue to push for improvement. KT has done an excellent job of recruiting Texas, which has always been good to us, and has a terrific ability to connect with young people. He is exactly the coach we were looking for and I’m thrilled to have him join our family.”