Kentucky announces the hiring of K.T. Turner as assistant coach

It’s officially official. K.T. Turner is joining Kentucky’s staff as an assistant coach. The University of Kentucky just announced the hiring in a press release featuring quotes from Turner and John Calipari. He replaces Jai Lucas, who left the program in April to take the same job at Duke.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to work at the University of Kentucky,” Turner said. “I’ve always wanted to work under John Calipari and be a part of his program. He has been on the forefront of college basketball for a long time. My family is extremely thankful for the opportunity to live in the state of Kentucky and be a part of the Lexington community. There is work to be done and the staff that I am joining is prepared to get this done. We know the mission is to get number nine.”  

“I knew that when we had an opening, K.T. Turner would be our next guy I’d be calling on,” Calipari said. “I’ve been very impressed with K.T. 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. K.T. 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.”

Turner, age 44, comes to Kentucky from Oklahoma, where he spent one season as associate head coach under Porter Moster. The Sooners finished the 2021-22 season 19-16 and advanced to the second round of the NIT. Before that, Turner was the associate head coach at Texas for one season and at SMU for four seasons. He was on the SMU staff for seven seasons total, three under Larry Brown and four under Tim Jankovich. The Mustangs compiled an overall record of 169-71 (.693) in that span, including two AAC regular-season titles and two conference tournament championships. SMU also appeared in the AP Top 25 in four of his seven years with the program.

Beyond his time at Oklahoma, Texas, and SMU, Turner was also an assistant at Wichita State in 2012-13, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in 2011-12, Hutchinson Community College (2009-11), Cowley College (2008-09), Redlands Community College (2006-07) and Panola Community College (2005-06). As a player, he shined at Oklahoma City University, leading the Stars to the 2002 Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles. He transferred to OCU after playing his first two years at Hutchinson Community College under Jankovich and his junior season at UT-Arlington. Following his collegiate playing career, Turner played professionally for Benneton Treviso in Italy from 2002-05 before becoming a coach.

Turner joins Orlando Antigua and Chin Coleman on Kentucky’s staff. ICYMI earlier today, Coleman recently received a raise and contract extension through the 2024-25 season. Bruiser Flint continues to serve as associate to the head coach.