Coach Mark Turgeon cheers on his team during the Terps’ 2014-15 season.
While Mark Turgeon spent the early 2000s transforming Wichita State into a mid-major college basketball powerhouse, he was enduring a personal battle off the court.
Turgeon’s father-in-law, Jon Fowler, began showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease in the mid-1990s, and his condition worsened for about 10 years until he died in June 2006 at the age of 68.
“I watched my father-in-law go from one of the brightest people I’ve ever known to not being able to put on his jacket, put on his shirt,” Turgeon said Wednesday. “It was devastating.”
With Fowler’s struggles in mind, Turgeon, now the coach of the surging No. 16 Terrapins men’s basketball team, is supporting the Alzheimer’s Association this season through the Infiniti Coaches’ Charity Challenge.
The fundraising challenge, sponsored by automobile company Infiniti, helped Turgeon raise $10,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association after he ranked in the top-16 vote recipients over the past few weeks. If Turgeon earns the most votes by March 15, Infiniti will donate $100,000 to the Alzheimer’s Association.
As of Wednesday night, Turgeon was tied for sixth place among 16 coaches, with about 5 percent of the votes.
The Infiniti Coaches’ Challenge page has more information.
Turgeon said representatives from Infiniti asked him during the summer whether he wanted to be part of the challenge. The Terps’ fourth-year coach accepted and has been promoting the cause ever since.
“It’s just a great thing,” Turgeon said. “We’ve already raised $10,000, and if we can keep advancing, we’ll raise more money. What a great deal for Infiniti — as it grows, it’s getting more and more publicity and it’s helping a lot of people.”
Turgeon’s campaign for votes and Alzheimer’s awareness has made waves across the campus. Both Turgeon and guard Dez Wells, a senior and the Terps’ second-leading scorer, have been pushing for fans to vote for the coach on social media and retweeting those who spread the word about the cause.
During Wednesday’s snowball fight on McKeldin Mall, basketball managers held up a sign urging people to vote for Turgeon in the Infiniti Coaches’ Charity Challenge.
“Me being in my position, I want to bring awareness to it,” Turgeon said. “It was great yesterday to have the sign out there while the students were having their snowball fight. Hopefully, not only within our state, but hopefully nationally, people will see that sign and maybe they’ve had someone with Alzheimer’s in their family, we’ll start getting some more votes and we’ll raise some money.”
