Christian Turner was a key component in the SUNY Potsdam men’s basketball team’s resurgence in the early 2000’s. He helped guide the Bears to two regular season SUNYAC Championships as well as back-to-back tournament titles and NCAA Tournament appearances.
Turner remembers his first trip to Potsdam to watch his high school play in the New York State regionals in the mid-1990’s. A few years later, he was targeted as a recruit by then Bears head coach and current Assistant Athletic Director Bill Mitchell.
“Christian was a very, very important recruit in that he was big, skilled, tough and tough-minded,” said Mitchell. “He was the type of student-athlete we wanted here. At the time I likened him to a Christian Laettner because he could do everything. He did what was necessary to win.”
Unfortunately for the Bears, Potsdam wasn’t the only college to recognize Turner’s value. NCAA Division I Army and Division II Mansfield also made serious efforts to land the Central Square native.
“I knew it was super important to feel confortable where I was going to go and so I think I went to Mansfield like four weekends in a row and three or four times to Potsdam and hung out with the guys on the team and met the coaching staff,” Turner said.
As a Division II school, Mansfield was able to offer Turner an athletic scholarship.
“There’s a picture of me sitting in my living room with my letter of intent to Mansfield that I never signed,” said Turner. “My dad always talks about that and I was hesitant to go because I always had such a good experience at Potsdam.”
As a Division III school, Potsdam couldn’t offer an athletic scholarship, but recognized Turner’s academic talent and offered him its prestigious Mt. Emmons Scholarship.
“My parents were middle class and in a position to help me out with college and they basically said we’ll figure it out if you decide you want to go somewhere without a scholarship,” Turner said. “But I just think it made the decision easy because I said that this is where I want to go and it’s a big plus that we don’t have to pay for me to go there.”
The Bears basketball tradition, combined with a full academic scholarship and its welcoming atmosphere sealed the deal.
“I just wanted to be at a place where the guys really cared about trying to win,” said Turner. “I was looking for a place I could go where people wouldn’t care that I didn’t do what everyone else did and just let me be who I was. I felt that was definitely the case at Potsdam. I don’t think the guys up there knew it, but it meant a lot to me just to show up and not to have pretend to be somebody I wasn’t and that’s pretty big for an 18 year-old kid.”
Turner arrived on campus in the fall of 2001 to begin his college career.
“I was always really comfortable defensively,” Turner said. “For me it was trying to find my way offensively, which did come sophomore year and later. Right from the start I felt like I was at a good place.”
His coach agreed.
“His freshman year he did a great job,” said Mitchell. “He learned and picked things up really quick. He was the guy that I could point to not just for recruits but current players. This is what you all need to aspire to be.”
The Bears battled to a respectable 14-13 record, including a 10-6 mark in the SUNYAC, during the 2001-02 season. A 67-61 victory over Geneseo in Jerry Welsh Gymnasium lifted Potsdam into the conference semifinals before bowing there to Brockport.
Turner had a solid freshman campaign, averaging 3.9 points-per-game and 2.8 rebounds in just 14.7 minutes a contest. As always, he was driven to do better.
“At the end of his freshman year, he said something to me that no player ever said to me,” said Mitchell. “He said ‘I want to be scrutinized.’ He said ‘I want you to tell me anything I can do better.’ So I did and sometimes that led to clashes.”
The Bears headed into the 2002-03 season with a veteran group that had experienced some success. Though picked sixth in the SUNYAC preseason poll, Turner and his teammates had their sights much higher. Potsdam raced out to 16-4 start, en route to a 12-4 mark in the conference and the regular season title.
“Christian helped us get things going in the right direction at the time,” Mitchell said. “We were winning games in the conference before he came, but he helped us get to the top. He could also be a stubborn pain in the ass,” joked Mitchell. “There were times he was not easy to coach, but that’s part of coaching. There are ups and down with each guy as far as progress and growth.”
That stubbornness drove Turner to 9.3 ppg. and a career-high 6.9 rpg., while starting all but one of the Bears 27 games that season. However, the year ended with a tough 59-53 first round loss to New Paltz in the SUNYACs and an 85-80 defeat to St. Lawrence in the ECAC Tournament for an 18-9 overall record. Turner’s disappointment was softened somewhat by earning an honorable mention All-SUNYAC selection.
The season marked the end of an era in Potsdam Basketball as Mitchell left his head coaching position after 12 seasons to take on the new challenge of being assistant athletic director. That left the door open for current head coach Sherry Dobbs, Jr.
“Junior Clayton and I were brought in to be part of the search committee that hired Sherry,” said Turner. “I was always thankful for that opportunity because it meant a lot for Junior and I just to be able to give our input and have it taken to heart. I think we were really part of the process and kind of an equal voice, which was really nice. For the people we had on the team, I think we made the right decision for sure.”
Dobbs took the helm of the Bears after several successful seasons as an assistant at Ithaca and St. Lawrence.
“They were actually a pretty easy group to get to know,” said Dobbs of the 2003-04 edition of the Bears. “They’re all pretty outgoing people. It was a change for them as much as for me so we both were adjusting and trying to feel each other out in the beginning. I think early on we just struggled and hit some difficult spots because it was my first time as a head coach and they were adjusting to a different approach to things.”
Potsdam opened the season slowly, posting a 5-6 mark by the beginning of the second semester, but then caught fire. The Bears rattled off six wins in their next seven contests to improve to 11-7 by the home stretch. Fatigue then briefly set in as Potsdam fell in three of its next four including a tough 63-59 road loss to Plattsburgh in mid February. Dobbs and his coaching staff did their best to keep things loose, while relying on the team leaders.
“We came back the next day and we were just tired,” Dobbs said. “We just needed a break. We came in and I think we had some pizza and played dodge ball in practice to kind of lighten things up a little bit. Our upperclassmen did a really good job of making sure that when we showed up to play that following weekend and next Tuesday against Buff State here at home (for the first round of the playoffs), we were focused and ready to play. I think they took lessons learned in the two years before that and really wanted to go forward with things.”
Potsdam closed out the regular season with a weekend sweep of Oneonta and SUNYIT and then handed Buffalo State 59-45 defeat in the first round of the SUNYAC Tournament. In the semifinals at the Utica Auditorium, the Bears built a 15-point halftime lead over Plattsburgh before rolling into the championship game with a 62-48 victory over the Cardinals. Turner hauled in a game-high 10 boards in the contest. Potsdam was poised to face Brockport for the SUNYAC title. Led by big games from Junior Clayton, fellow Bears Hall of Famer Edane Barton and Turner, Potsdam handled the Golden Eagles for its first conference tournament title since 1987 and NCAA Tournament berth since 1990. Turner, always a consistent force on defense, scored 19 points for the Bears and earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
Potsdam headed to Penn State-Behrend for the first round of the national tournament, holding off the host Lions for a 60-58 victory. Turner gave his usual gritty effort, scoring nine points and grabbing five rebounds 29 minutes. Two days later, the Bears were in Ohio to battle the College of Wooster. Turner contributed 10 points and five boards, but the Fighting Scots pulled away in the second half for a 70-56 win. Potsdam wrapped up its finest season in 14 years with a 19-11 mark.
Turner was again named honorable mention All-SUNYAC after averaging a career-high 10.7 ppg. to go with 5.3 rpg.
With nearly everyone back for the 2004-05 season, expectations were as high as ever and the Bears met them.
“It was really fun,” said Turner of his senior season. “That’s the first emotion that comes to mind. We knew we were going to have the chance to be really good. I think we got a long so well on and off the court that we could push each other the way we needed to. We didn’t relax in practice. Our practices were just brutal. Guys played so hard. I had to guard guys in practice every day that were better than almost anybody that I played against all year.”
Potsdam raced out to a 16-0 start, including a dramatic 75-74 win at Hamilton where Turner drained a buzzer-beating three in overtime. The Bears were a deep, talented and well balanced machine and Turner credits Dobbs for keeping his players focused on team goals rather than their own.
“I think a lot of the credit for that goes to Sherry,” Turner said. “Looking in from the outside, it looks easy for it to go well. You have a lot of guys that are talented and capable of playing well. If you only have six guys, it’s pretty easy to get six guys into the game. But if you’ve got eight or nine guys that could make an argument to be on the court for significant minutes, I think it’s more challenging. So I think he was a big part of our success for sure.”
Dobbs in turn gives a lot of credit to Turner and his other leaders.
“I really think Christian, Jim Connelly and Junior Clayton, our captains, those guys did a great job of making sure that everybody was buying into what we were trying to do,” said Dobbs. “And if somebody strayed a little bit, there was somebody there to bring him back. Like ‘Hey, this isn’t about you. This is about us winning as a basketball team’ and that’s good leadership. You need that type of leadership from your upperclassman.”
The Bears closed the regular season on a 7-3 run to wrap up the SUNYAC Regular Season Title. In the semifinals Potsdam got revenge on Oswego, the team that had ended their undefeated start to the season, with a 74-61 victory. The next afternoon, the Bears achieved another major goal by seizing their second straight tournament title with an 83-70 win over Plattsburgh.
Turner’s stats during the SUNYAC Tournament were not eye-popping, but he was a critical part of the victories.
“The one thing about Christian is he didn’t care at all about stats,” Mitchell said. “He didn’t care how many points he scored. He just cared about doing what was necessary to win a game. He did what was necessary. Not always easy. Not always glorious. What was necessary. Guys like that don’t often come around. Whatever you asked, he was willing to do as well as he possibly could.”
Dobbs agrees.
“A lot of times when you have somebody that’s a great player, they don’t want to do the intangible things,” Dobbs said. “They don’t want to take charges. They don’t want to dive on the floor. They don’t want to do those other dirty work type things. He was a guy that was super talented, but was also willing to do the dirty work. Those kinds of players are rare to find.”
Heading into the 2005 NCAA Tournament, the Bears earned a bye and a second round home game with Salem State. The Vikings gave Potsdam nearly all it could handle in a packed and loud Welsh Gymnasium, but when the dust settled the Bears had captured a 74-73 overtime victory to advance. Turner had eight points and eight rebounds in the contest.
Next, Potsdam headed to Amherst College to face No. 1 seed and undefeated St. John Fisher. The Bears stifled the Cardinals with strong defense in the first half, holding them to just 15 points and then hit the gas offensively to cruise to a 67-43 win and a berth in the Elite Eight. Potsdam’s magical run ended the following evening with 67-51 loss at the hands of eventual national runner-up Rochester. They were 27-4.
“We won 27 games and didn’t have anybody average anymore than 11 ppg,” said Turner. “We were just trying to win games. That was the first year that I played with such a talented group of people that worked so hard and really knew what it was going to take. It really harkened back, from what people have told me, to some of the really good Potsdam teams before.”
In his four seasons in a Potsdam jersey Turner compiled 931 points, 571 rebounds, 180 assists, 113 steals and 45 blocks, while shooting nearly 47 percent from the floor.
“It’s funny because Chris scored over 900 points and had over 500 rebounds, but on other teams he would have had like 1300 points and 700 rebounds because he would have played more,” Dobbs said. “I think he only played 20 some minutes a game for two years. That’s a lot of what you get when you have a lot of really good teams, because you get guys that are willing to share and willing to spread the wealth and don’t care who gets the credit. Selfless is a word I would use for Christian Turner. He’s just a selfless person. It’s not about him. It’s about our team. That’s just a wonderful trait.”
As his senior year came to a close, the Biology major earned Potsdam’s Maxcy-Molnar award for outstanding senior athlete. He was also named a SUNY Chancellor’s Award recipient. His next goal was getting into medical school.
“My mother is a teacher and she remembers me being interested in being in a position to help people and doing it in a scientific way, pretty early,” said Turner. “There are no doctors in my family. So it was just kind of personal interest. From my mom almost being in the health profession as an elementary school teacher, I was very comfortable with kids and young people. I worked basketball camp all my life. I was really interested in helping kids primarily, so I wanted to get into pediatrics.”
Turner connected with now retired Chemistry professor Ken Coskran during freshman orientation and Coskran helped start him on his Potsdam path to medical school.
“The faculty did a good job of preparing me for what I needed to do for med school and going to bat for me when I was trying to get interviews,” Turner said. “ President Fallon really helped me a lot. I had one interview at Stony Brook and was waitlisted at Upstate originally. He called a couple people and I think he was pretty tight with the President of Upstate and spoke to him. I don’t know if that’s why I got an interview, but it certainly couldn’t hurt. I got an interview and got in. So I owe him a big debt from my perspective.”
After graduating from Potsdam in 2005, Turner entered SUNY Upstate Medical University where he spent four years training to become a physician. He was fortunate enough to room with friend and former teammate Jim Connelly, who was in training for physical therapy. Always intending to become a pediatrician, during his third year at Upstate he realized he could work in sports medicine for children.
After completing his Doctor of Medicine degree at Upstate in 2009 he spent the next three years in residency at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine’s Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford. In 2012, he accepted a fellowship for Primary Care Sports Medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. While completing his fellowship, he had the opportunity to serve as an assistant team physician for the University of Pennsylvania Athletic Department, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Philadelphia Eagles during training camp.
In September 2012, Turner married his wife Christine, a Syracuse native he had met while at Upstate. Their daughter Mabel was born two years later.
After completing his fellowship, Turner remained at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where he became an attending physician with the Division of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery.
“I take care of kids that are school age and kids that play sports,” said Turner. “I get to coach them about what they need to do for their injuries to not get reinjured. I think for better or worse I really understand the kids’ mentality of ‘playing today or the next day is the only important thing.’ So they can get hurt on a Thursday and ask me ‘when can I play again?’ I think having been an athlete and knowing those scenarios and realities helps. I think they take to heart knowing that I can at least speak from experience and I think that absolutely helps my career right now.”
Turner enjoyed his experience at Potsdam and certainly made the most of it.
“The people there were pretty genuine from the start,” Turner said. “They were there for the right reasons. They wanted to be at Potsdam and it was a really supportive atmosphere. It shows the effort that the people there continue to make it a good place to be from an academic standpoint and with the basketball program. Part of the draw for me was to be in a place small enough to know my professors and know the people on campus more than you can at places that are bigger. It’s a place that I miss when I’m not there. It’s far away, but I love being there when I can and it brings back a lot of positive memories. Knowing what I know now, I’d still go to Potsdam if I had to do it all over again.”
“As a person, Chris is very comfortable in his own skin and always has been and that’s one of the things that I admire about him,” said Dobbs. “He is his own person. He was raised that way and I give his parents a ton of credit for that. They were very influential in his life. You couldn’t ask for a better person. He enjoyed his time as a college student and was able to have fun and enjoy being part of our team. He maximized his college career in every aspect.”
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| L-R: Athletic Director Jim Zalacca, Christian Turner and Jon Tanous. |
