Men’s basketball season preview

With 15 years at the helm of the UC Irvine men's basketball team, it's fair to say that Russell Turner is one of the most successful coaches in the college game. His squads have won 11 Big West regular-season crowns and two Big West Tournament championships, earning the Anteaters their only two NCAA Tournament appearances. Turner is looking to return to March Madness this year with a talented, veteran team that's the preseason choice to win yet another Big West regular-season title. He speaks to UC Irvine News about the coming season, his stellar players and their quest to be one of UC Irvine's best men's basketball squads ever.

UC Irvine News:

Your teams have had 11 straight winning seasons, including nine regular-season Big West titles. To what do you attribute your program's success?

Russell Turner:

I mainly attribute it to having outstanding players and assistant coaches who are excellent fits here in the UC Irvine academic community. The type of people who are attracted to this place and fit well with the formula we have are underdogs with something to prove who are competitive and committed to excellence in the things that they do.

UC Irvine News:

Over the last few years, your teams have upset big programs like USC and Oregon on their courts. This keeps UC Irvine in the national spotlight. Can you talk about the importance of your nonconference scheduling and playing these types of teams that prepare you for the regular season and the postseason?

Russell Turner:

We like to play as aggressive a schedule as we can, but we need cooperation from our opponents. They have to agree to play us. When we've won those games, we've ended up making it harder to get more of them. We like to play the bigger-name opponents because we see ourselves as a program that can not only compete with anyone but come out on top against anyone. We've proven that when we've been given those opportunities. The players like playing in those environments. The fans like seeing us play well and look good against teams that have more established reputations than we do. Everybody here at UC Irvine knows of the quality of this place, and when we have a chance to display that in athletics, it's a lot of fun to do that.

UC Irvine News:

Historically, you've always had great home records and went undefeated at home last season. How important is the environment of the Bren Events Center to the team's success?

Russell Turner:

College basketball is great because of the impact that a home crowd can have. When we have had that here, it's been really special to be a part of, and we've had some great home crowds. Our players feed off it; the fans who get to experience it also feed off it. We know that by representing this school, we are a huge part of building the brand of UC Irvine and increasing the loyalty and the spirit that this campus feels about who we are and what we do.

UC Irvine News:

Can you tell me about a few of your key team players we should be watching this season?

Russell Turner:

We have a group of returning veterans that I'm really proud to have back. We have four returning starters from last year's 24-win team. Several of these guys have been around for a long time. Justin Hohn is in his sixth year at UC Irvine. He's a graduate student now and already earned his undergraduate degree here. He's a first-team all-conference player in the preseason selections.

And we've got Bent Leuchten back, who's the biggest guy in the league. He's 7-foot-1 and 265 pounds. He'll graduate this year and then go on to a professional career that I expect to be a long one. We've got Andre Henry, the Big West's best defensive player last year. He's a guy who has grown up on this campus over the last four years and is now as good a representative of this place as anybody we've had. He's also received his undergraduate degree and is in a master's program in finance now. I'm excited for him.

Devin Tillis could be one of the best players in the league this year. He struggled with injuries at previous times in his career. He's one of the most versatile players in the league, and I know he's going to have a great season. Then we have Ofure Ujadughele, who's working on his second master's degree here. He's one of the best players defensively in the league's history. We've got a bunch of guys that fans will recognize as having been here and committed to this place for a long time, and they're hoping to accomplish the goals that we've yet to achieve with this group this coming year.

UC Irvine News:

Like making the NCAA Tournament?

Russell Turner:

That's the goal we all have, and that's a big part of why all these guys made the decisions that they made to return here. They feel like they have some unfinished business and a chance to leave a mark on this community. We've made the NCAA Tournament as a program a couple of times, but none of these guys have made it. They all got to see us make it in 2019, when they were in high school. That was a great, great experience for all the Anteaters who followed that team. These guys all know this is possible for this year's team if we can play well and reach our goals.

UC Irvine News:

This is the 10^th anniversary season of the 2015 team, which was your first to make it to the NCAA Tournament. Can you talk about that team and its legacy to the men's basketball program?

Russell Turner:

That team was incredibly motivated to be the first ever from UC Irvine to be a part of March Madness and promote the name of this place nationally. The pressure that we all felt to do that for the first time was immense. So to perform and accomplish that goal under pressure and to see the pressure release expressed by so many fans of this program in the Honda Center when we did was really special. I've still got a picture of all the fans storming the court that night - all the pride and emotion that got released. That was just an unforgettable experience.

I think there were a lot of us who felt in some way athletically that this accomplishment meant we had arrived. It also came around the time that President Barack Obama spoke at commencement. Those were special moments for the campus, and to see these moments continue the way they have is something we're all grateful to be a part of.

UC Irvine News:

The collegiate landscape has gone through unprecedented changes over the past few years. Can you tell me what it's like to navigate the new world with the NIL and the transfer portal?

Russell Turner:

It's exciting. A lot of people view it as being difficult and inconvenient. I don't; I see it as an incredible opportunity for us to continue to be excellent. As I mentioned, we have four returning starters from an excellent team last year. All those guys could have transferred, but they didn't. And we have had some who transferred here. I'm gratified that players now have an increased level of freedom. I also think it's great that players across college athletics are being more appropriately compensated. I think this is the right thing to do. And I'm hoping we can be aggressive and appropriate adapters to the changes that are taking place. I'm really excited moving forward to see what can happen for our program.

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