NORMAN, Ok.—Porter Moser is expected to turn to an assistant coach with strong Texas ties to his Oklahoma staff.
K.T. Turner, Texas’ associate head coach during the 2020-21 season, will join Moser’s staff, according to a report by college basketball insider Jeff Goodman from The Stadium.
Turner spent seven years as an assistant at SMU prior to his lone season in Austin. He’s also coached under Tim Jankovich and Larry Brown in Dallas.
Turner spent one year (2011-12) as an assistant coach at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi under head coach Willis Wilson (2011-12). He also worked for two seasons (2009-10 and 2010-11) as an assistant for Steve Eck at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. While at Hutchinson, Turner helped the Blue Dragons post a 53-13 overall record, and Hutchinson reached the NJCAA Division I Region VI semifinals in both of his two years. This marked the first time since the 2003-04 season that Hutchinson had advanced that far in the national tournament.
Prior to his time in Hutchinson, Turner was an assistant under Eck at Cowley (Kan.) College during the 2008-09 season. Cowley posted a 29-5 record, shared the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division championship, reached the NJCAA Division I Region VI title game and ended the year ranked No. 17 in the final NJCAA poll. Turner earned his first Division I coaching job as an assistant for Mike Adras at Northern Arizona University in 2007-08, when the Lumberjacks registered a 21-11 record and finished second in the Big Sky Conference with an 11-5 mark.
Turner served as an assistant coach for Eck at Redlands (Okla.) Community College during the 2006-07 season, and Redlands posted a 29-2 record. He started his collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach at Panola (Texas) Junior College in 2005-06.
Turner began his collegiate playing career at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, where he earned all-conference honors in both the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons while playing under coach Tim Jankovich. He paced the Blue Dragons to a 50-14 record during his two seasons in Hutchinson. Turner then spent his junior season at UT-Arlington (2000-01) before completing his collegiate career at Oklahoma City University in 2001-02. In his senior year at OCU, he helped the Stars claim the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles and advance to the NAIA quarterfinals.
Turner also was the Longhorns’ interim coach due to Shaka Smart’s COVID-19 prognosis when Texas hosted OU on Jan. 26. The Sooners won that game 80-79.
Turner’s departure from UT comes after Chris Beard was named Smart’s successor at Texas.