Mark Turgeon Joins McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative
Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon announced this morning that he’s joining the McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative, a coach-driven initiative led by Kentucky head coach John Calipari to provide greater opportunities to minorities looking to pursue careers in athletics administration.
“I’m all in! Proud to help launch the McLendon Foundation Minority Leadership Initiative and help provide access and opportunity to deserving minority candidates as #FutureLeaders. Learn more at MinorityLeaders.org #MLI,” Turgeon wrote on Twitter.
Turgeon has continued the conversation on racial injustice within the program after announcing his steps to promote more awareness just weeks ago and following Monday morning’s announcement, he joins Pittsburgh head coach Jeff Capel and Oregon head coach Dana Altman as one of 35 collegiate head coaches to announce the partnership. The program is designed to allow coaches across college basketball to take more control on the opportunities intended for minorities as the Foundation partners with G3 Marketing and ProLink Staffing Services to provide access and opportunities in college athletics administration.
“Seven weeks ago this week we watched in horror as George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis. How could one human being do that to another?,” Calipari said on ESPN’s “Get Up” on Monday morning “We started saying, wait, we’ve got to step back. And for some of us, I stood back to learn and listen to see what don’t I understand and find out I may never understand but I stand with all of what we’re trying to do right now. The second thing that happened is, my wife grabbed me and said, ‘John, everything that’s happened for us has happened for us because African American families have trusted us with their son. What are you going to do? What are you going to say? How are you going to get involved?”
The McLendon Foundation is named after former basketball coach John McLendon, who became the first African American coach to win an integrated national championship. To learn more, click here.
