With the 2020 NCAA tourney tipping off next month, we will spend this month taking a walk down memory lane with a choice collection of players/coaches who are celebrating an awesome anniversary this year. From some game-winning FTs in the 1955 tourney (65th anniversary) through a 17-PT comeback win in the 2015 1st 4 (5th anniversary), these legends have all carved out a little piece of history in past Marches. We continue our series with Turner Trofholz, who scored 42 PTS in a D-2 tourney game in 2005. He was a 2-time All-American/2-time Academic All-American, the 2006 national co-POY, and still has the best FG% in school history. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Turner about the 15th anniversary of his great performance in the 2005 tourney and his decision to become a coach.
You grew up in Nebraska: what made you choose South Dakota? First: the people who recruited me. When I was in high school we had a home visit and the 2 people who came into Schuyler were Andy Markowski/Dave Boots. I knew Coach Markowski from watching him play high school basketball at Ord/college basketball at Nebraska. I really liked Coach Boots and everything that he had to say. Second: the dome. When I went up for my visit the dome sold me: it was a great place to play!
In the 2005 D-2 tourney you scored a career-high 42 PTS/16-20 FG in a 10-PT win over Nebraska-Kearney: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? I really did not take a shot from outside 5 feet! UNK pressed our guards all game long but we broke the press and I got to shoot layups most of the time. We had a really close group of guards who worked well together. Josh Mueller/Luke Tibbetts/Dave Nour were all really good at handling the ball.
In 2006 you were named D-2 co-national POY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? Being in Indianapolis to receive the award in front of all the D-1 coaches/players who were receiving their own awards was the best part. That was the year that JJ Redick/Adam Morrison split the D-1 national POY award. As a huge Duke fan it was humbling for me to meet Redick as well as Sheldon Williams (the national DPOY).
You were a 2-time All-American/2-time Academic All-American: how did you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? I left basketball on the basketball court and left classwork in the classroom. I think it is important to understand that when you are playing basketball you need to focus on that, and when you are in class you need to focus on that. It was not always easy being gone from class during road trips. As long as you communicated and worked hard to get things turned in as soon as possible, the professors were usually pretty good about working with you. They did not cut you much slack but they were very understanding about when you were away from campus.
You remain in the top-3 in school history in both PTS/REB: how did you balance your scoring with your rebounding? A lot of my scoring came from my rebounding. I was only looking at 1 stat on the stat sheet: how many offensive rebounds I had. If teams are focusing on you when you are on offense then you can always go to the glass and get offensive boards. I think that I led the league in offensive rebounds during my senior year, which was 1 of my ultimate goals. You can provide yourself/your teammates that extra possession you may need to win a game.
Your 61.9 FG% is still #1 in school history: what is the key to being a great shooter? It was an advantage of playing the post and not having to shoot far away from the basket. I think the biggest thing for me was my footwork. I knew that I was not the biggest post in the league so I had to find ways to get around people. Footwork was important and allowed me to create separation in the post and turn a difficult shot into a much easier shot.
After graduating you played professionally in Austria/Holland: what is the biggest difference between basketball in the US vs. basketball overseas? There is not a huge difference: just some slight differences in the rules, stuff that you get used to right away. In Austria it was interesting to play with a language barrier. Some players and even 1 of my assistant coaches did not speak much English: THAT part was tough to get used to!
In 2016 you were named to the school’s Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? It is up there as 1 of the greatest. If you play a sport and do not want to be remembered as 1 of the greatest of all time, then why play the sport?! You need to have a competitive drive at all times since that will make you better than the person you are playing against.
You are currently a girls’ high school basketball coach: how do you like the job, and what do you hope to do in the future? I am currently a girls’ coach after I was a head boys’ coach for 4 years. I would like to eventually get back to the boys’ side of things: girls’ basketball is definitely a different game. I could also see myself getting into the college game if the right opportunity comes along. Even if that does not happen, coaching will always be a passion of mine. Maybe somewhere down the line I will become an athletic director since I finished my masters in administration.
When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? I would like to be remembered as a good teammate and someone who people liked playing basketball with and was coachable. Everything else does not really matter unless coaches wanted to coach you and players enjoyed playing with you.