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G/F Evan "The Villain" Turner (2010 Naismith Winner)

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OSU?s Turner plays second fiddle at home
By Gerry Ahern, Yahoo! Sports
MILWAUKEE ? The legend of Evan Turner continues to grow.

Last weekend he led Ohio State to the Big Ten tournament championship with one heroic effort after another.

He knocked down a 37-foot 3-pointer as time expired to foil Michigan in the quarterfinals. He had 31 points and 10 rebounds in a double-overtime win over Illinois in the semis. He rung up 31 points and 11 boards in ripping Minnesota in the title game.

Columnists around the country crowed that Turner, who averages 20.3 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists, should be named National Player of the Year over Kentucky freshman phenom John Wall.

But in Columbus, football remains king. And King James hasn?t come calling.

Turner laughed when a reporter asked him if he ever gets calls or texts from Cleveland Cavaliers great LeBron James, as does Buckeyes quarterback and resident rock star Terrelle Pryor.

Hasn?t happened.

?First, I?m not Terrelle Pryor,? Turner said Thursday on the eve of second-seeded Ohio State?s first-round Midwest Regional matchup against UC Santa Barbara. ?Terrelle Pryor is a pretty big deal at Ohio State. I don?t get those types of perks or benefits, hearing from LeBron.?

Will that change if Turner and the Buckeyes win the national championship? Or maybe if indeed he does claim the Wooden Award as the game?s player of the year?

Turner isn?t holding his breath.

?I can?t really predict that type of stuff,? he said. ?Terrelle?s pretty loved in Ohio, at Ohio State. Their football program has done a lot for the school and what we?re most recognized for.

?So I can?t really say.?

Turner?s visage adorned the cover of Sports Illustrated this week, an honor to be sure. But with that tribute comes talk of the dreaded SI jinx, which reputedly sends star athletes to injuries or worse. Turner, a level-headed native of Chicago, wasn?t worried about it.

?I never heard of the jinx until a couple of days ago,? he said. ?I?m the type of kid you make your own destiny, will yourself into the situation, not worrying about the jinx but worrying about what my teammates and I have been doing, which is playing Ohio State basketball and that?s it. Everything happens for a reason, and we?re definitely going to try to just come out here and compete and play hard.?
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OSU's Turner plays second fiddle at home - College Basketball - Rivals.com
 
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Ohio State's Evan Turner knows that this time of year, every second counts - Bill Livingston column
By Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer
March 19, 2010

MILWAUKEE -- The path to the court tonight will lead Evan Turner out of the Marquette locker room at Bradley Center. He will jog past the framed jersey of the Milwaukee-based school's greatest player, Dwyane Wade.

He will continue past a poster devoted to Wade's defiant quote, when Miami was down 0-2 in games and down 13 points in the fourth quarter of the third game of the 2006 NBA Finals. "I ain't going out this way," Wade said.

Near the doorway, Turner will pass the trophy collection Marquette has amassed.

Then he will see an inspirational message, which reads, "For a competitor, the game never lasts long enough. Make every second count."

March is when the seconds count most of all. Soon after the month is over, on Final Four weekend, Turner should win the national Player of the Year award. He makes no apology for being only the second-most fetching darling of scouts' eyes, behind Kentucky point guard John Wall. "I worked for it," he said of the awards he has already won as the Big Ten's top player.

He has spoken often of the legacy this Buckeyes team will leave behind. One and done in Turner's only NCAA Tournament game last year, it is safe to say Turner's plan ain't to go out that way.

Not even the Sports Illustrated jinx in the form of a regional cover photo gives pause to Turner.

"I never heard of the jinx until a couple of days ago," he said. "I'm the type of kid you make your own destiny, will yourself into the situation, not worrying about the jinx but worrying about what my teammates and I have been doing, which is playing Ohio State basketball, and that's it."
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Ohio State's Evan Turner knows that this time of year, every second counts - Bill Livingston column | cleveland.com
 
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Wall or Turner? Ask LeBron, Kobe
By Marc J. Spears, Yahoo! Sports

LeBron James(notes) hasn?t been shy about his affection for Kentucky freshman John Wall. He, like many scouts, has projected Wall to be the best NBA prospect in college this season. And once Wall formally announces his intentions to turn pro, James is expected to recruit the guard for his agent, Leon Rose, and his own marketing company.

But is Wall a lock to be the No. 1 pick? Not everyone thinks so, including James? biggest rival ? Kobe Bryant(notes).
Ohio State's Evan Turner figures to be among the top three picks in the June NBA draft.

Bryant watched Evan Turner?s performance in Ohio State?s double-overtime victory over Illinois in the Big Ten tournament, and that was all he needed to see.

?He seemed like the best player in the country to me,? Bryant said of Turner. ??He looked like he has all the tools. I think Wall is a great player, but I like Turner.?

Turner, a 6-foot-7 swingman, entered the NCAA tournament averaging 20.3 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.9 assists. Bryant likened him to Portland Trail Blazers? All-Star guard Brandon Roy(notes).

?He can shoot, can handle, can go left, smooth, doesn?t rush anything,? Bryant said. ?He has a good pace to him.?

The Turner-Wall debate isn?t limited to Kobe-LeBron. Several NBA scouts told Yahoo! Sports they were split on which of the two college basketball stars would be selected first. One NBA executive isn?t even sure there?s a consensus 1-2, saying he preferred Wall first, then Georgia Tech freshman forward Derrick Favors second and Turner third.

?You can make a case for either [Wall or Turner],? one NBA general manager said. ?Wall is the better athlete. But Turner is the better ball-handler and a more complete player. He?s a guy who can do it all. He?s more experienced, as well.?

Another GM said Turner could eventually compare to Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson(notes), at best. Wall?s upside, he said, is too much to pass on because Wall could quickly become one of the top five point guards in the league.

?If you miss on John Wall, the worst you get is Derrick Rose(notes),? the GM said. ?If you miss on Evan Turner, you get Larry Hughes(notes).?
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Wall or Turner? Ask LeBron, Kobe - NBA - Yahoo! Sports
 
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'Different' Turner looks for second-round redemption
March, 20, 2010
By Eamonn Brennan

MILWAUKEE -- Thus far, there are a few things we know about Ohio State star and putative player of the year Evan Turner:

He's pretty good at the game of basketball. (OK, that one's a freebie.) He loves Lady Gaga. He doesn't much love the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. And there's one more: According to his teammates, Turner is, well, "different."

"He's just different," Ohio State guard David Lighty said Saturday. "Like we go out to eat or something, and he'll just order steak and bread, like a plain steak with nothing on it. That's what he'll eat. If his food is touching, he won't eat it. It's hard to explain. He's a little different in his own way. But it's nothing weird."

If one's mind immediately races to thoughts of Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes in Martin Scorsese's classic biopic "The Aviator," well, maybe the comparison is apt. Both were driven, both were geniuses at what they do, and both had their fair share of quirks. (To be fair to Turner, it seems doubtful the guard has ever spent months locked away in a private theater for fear of contracting invisible germs. There's quirky, and then there's Howard Hughes.)
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'Different' Turner looks for second-round redemption - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN

Just like old times for Turner and Shumpert
8th-grade teammates set to face off in NCAA tournament
Shannon Ryan
March 20, 2010


MILWAUKEE ? Ohio State's Evan Turner and Georgia Tech's Iman Shumpert passed each other in a Bradley Center hallway Friday night, and true to the stereotype of competitive Chicago point guards they craved nothing more than going up against each other the next day.

"I said, ?Man, get that win so we can go head-to-head,' " Turner recalled telling Shumpert between first round games. "We saw each other after (Georgia Tech won) and he said, ?I did my part, now you have to go do yours.' "
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Just like old times for Ohio State’s Evan Turner and Georgia Tech’s Iman Shumpert - chicagotribune.com
Surprises Pan Out for Ohio State?s Turner
By KEVIN ARMSTRONG
Published: March 20, 2010

COLUMBUS, Ohio ? While pregnant with her third child, Iris Turner was thrilled to learn that sonograms showed she was going to have her first girl. She chose a name, Aulbri Leanette.

Evan Turner, a 6-foot-7 junior, has been a small forward, a power forward and, this season, a starting point guard for Ohio State.
The Quad

Coach Thad Matta told Evan Turner to quit passing up shots. His game improved; so did their relationship.

But when the baby arrived, the doctor handed her a 10-pound boy.

?What happened?? she asked. ?This is devastating!?

Over the next 24 hours, a nurse repeatedly asked her to name her son, but she refused to respond. On the third visit, the nurse would not leave without an answer.

?That?s how Evan Turner came to be my baby,? Iris Turner said of Ohio State?s junior point guard. ?It?s been a struggle, in and out of the hospital, ever since.?
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With Ohio State’s Turner, Surprises Keep Panning Out - NYTimes.com
Mar 20, 2010
Ohio State's Evan Turner has a new No. 1 fan


MILWAUKEE -- Evan Turner had a special guest attend Ohio State's first-round game against UC-Santa Barbara on Friday night.

Eleven-year-old Jack Zeidler of Highland Park, a Chicago suburb, came with his family to cheer on Turner, who was an inspiration for Zeidler during the boy's recovery from four broken vertebrae suffered during a game of tackle football with friends. Zeidler sustained the injury in late October.

In early December, Turner suffered transverse process fractures of two vertebrae and missed six games. He found out about Zeidler's injury after the boy's mother, Jennifer, contacted the Ohio State athletics department hoping her son could get some encouragement from Turner.
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Ohio State's Evan Turner has a new No. 1 fan - Campus Rivalry: College Football & Basketball News, Recruiting, Game Picks, and More - USATODAY.com
 
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KingLeon;1677931; said:
Seriously????? If you miss on Turner you get Larry Hughes?????? That "scout" needs to lose his job.
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I actually agree with that statement. John Wall is as close to a sure success in the pros as any player can be. ET has a lot more questions. He may end up a player with too many tools and not good enough at one thing. IMO, they have about the same upside while ET has a much lower downside/chance to be a bust.

That said I'd take ET everyday at the college level. :osu:
 
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The Turner report: NBA scouts have been eyeing Ohio State star Evan Turner since last year. At the time, Turner sent out some feelers to teams to check and see where he would be selected if he came out in the draft. The general consensus was late in the first round or even the second, so Turner went back to school.

Now, say a few NBA scouts, Turner probably isn't only going to be a lottery pick, there's a strong chance he will be selected among the top three picks. Executives have been quite impressed with his passing and rebounding ability with his 6-7 frame.

"He reminds me a little bit of Grant Hill," said one general manager. "He's accomplished in all facets.

"He plays like [versatile Charlotte forward] Boris Diaw, but he can shoot better," another GM said.

"He sort of plays like (standout Sacramento rookie] Tyreke Evans because you can run the offense through him, but he's taller and a better shooter than Evans."

For the most part, scouts seem to be in agreement that Kentucky's John Wall will be the No. 1 pick no matter who wins the lottery. After that, there's disagreement. Some feel Kentucky big man DeMarcus Cousins will go No. 2, others feel it will be Turner. It could largely depend on which team ends up No. 2. Georgia Tech freshman Derrick Favors also is a candidate to be taken in the top three picks.
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Michael Jordan had the cash to get the Bobcats; does he have the savvy to run them? NBA Insider | cleveland.com
 
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dragurd;1678644; said:
Darn Turner so close the illusive quadruple double 24 pts 9 reb 9asts and 9 To. Talk about filling the statsheet.
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Great scoring game. When he goes to the rim he is unstoppable. Too many turnovers, and too careless with the ball for stretches. No gonna cut it against Tenn. Great bounce back game though.
 
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