June 24, 2009
TOPEKA, Kan. - Texas A&M Head Men's Basketball Coach Mark Turgeon will be inducted into the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame Wednesday night at Washburn University.
Turgeon helped lead Hayden High School to back-to-back state titles in 1982 and 1983, including a perfect season his senior year. He was an all-city pick and also received all-state recognition. Turgeon went on to play at Kansas, becoming the first Jayhawk to play in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments. He served as head coach at Wichita State for seven seasons before moving on to A&M in 2007.
Other inductees were Turgeon's former high school teammate Tom Meier and the late Bob Hentzen, a longtime sports writer for the Topeka Capital-Journal. Meier was also a member of the 1982 and 1983 state championship teams at Hayden before going on to play collegiately at Washburn and Kansas. Hentzen came to Topeka in 1958 and continued to write for The Capital-Journal until his death in 2000.