HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Former Southern Mississippi basketball coach M.K. Turk died Friday morning. He was 71.
Turk led the Golden Eagles for 20 seasons from 1976-96 and finished with a school-record 301 victories, two NCAA tournament appearances and six NIT appearances, including one NIT championship. The school confirmed Turk's death Friday.
He's the only Southern Miss coach to lead the program to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances.
Turk was also the athletic director and basketball coach at Copiah-Lincoln Junior College (Miss.) and an assistant coach at Memphis before coming to Southern Miss.
Current Southern Miss head coach Donnie Tyndall said Turk "is by far and away the best basketball coach to have ever graced Southern Miss and always will be. But more than that, he was an amazing friend and person."
