Turpen excited to run Eagle hoop program

Thursday, May 14, 2020
New South Putnam boys’ basketball coach Travis Turpen poses with his wife, Emily, and son, Brendan (9).
Contributed photo

Travis Turpen has had his eye on a boys’ varsity basketball coaching job for a while after several years as an assistant, and saw his dream come true on Wednesday night.

South Putnam hired the former Terre Haute South and Southmont assistant as its new boys’ basketball coach to replace Greg Dean, who resigned following the recent season. Dean posted a 46-94 record in six years at his alma mater.

Turpen, 41, is a graduate of Sullivan High School and played college golf at David Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn.

He’s excited to get started with his first varsity team, and likes several factors about his new school.

“South Putnam has a lot of good community support, and I’m looking forward to getting in the gym, working with the kids and meeting the staff, the parents and community members,” Turpen said. “I’ve been looking forward to it for a while.”

Turpen got his first coaching experience in 2009 when he was hired as an assistant by the late Mike Saylor, a longtime colleague of both Pat Rady Sr. and Patrick Rady, the current Cloverdale coach. “I also got to work under coach [Scott] Ridge and coach [Maynard] Lewis at Terre Haute South and really learned a lot. For the last few years, I’ve had my eye on coaching jobs but they had to be the right fit for my family. South Putnam gives that opportunity to me.”

Turpen will teach math at South Putnam. Turpen and his wife, Emily, have a nine-year old son (Brendan) who will attend Central Elementary next year.

While most coaches have to deal with the process of moving when going to a new community, the Turpens are already in place.

They have lived in Greencastle since November, while Travis taught and coached at Southmont and Emily taught in Clay County.

“It’s pretty handy,” he said. “We live just a few miles from the school.”

One area of the game in which Turpen’s teams should excel is in free throw shooting, as the Sullivan County native was a two-time participant in the Elks National Hoop Shoot finals at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis as a 10- and 12-year-old.

“It was neat,” he said. “That was my first real experience in sports, and really started my work ethic and drive to be successful. At those competitions, you had to beat 10 to 12 other participants to move on. That really started my drive to want to work hard.”

Turpen finished second in the nation at age 10 and was fourth at age 12 — hitting 23 of 25 shots both years.

He expects his teams to be proficient in that area.

“That would be the hope,” Turpen said.

He played basketball in his freshman year at Sullivan, but gave up the sport once he started being recruited by colleges to play golf.

“I made the decision to focus on golf, and I was gone playing golf tournaments all summer and couldn’t go to open gyms or anything,” he said. “I knew I could get my college paid for in golf, and I couldn’t in basketball.”

After a state finalist career at Sullivan, Turpen moved on to Lipscomb and had what he considers a “pretty successful” career.

“I never won a college tournament, but in the Southeastern Kentucky Intercollegiate my sophomore year I finished second,” he said.

He began his teaching career at the elementary level in Vigo County, spending eight years at two different schools.

During that time, he was an assistant basketball coach at Terre Haute South for 10 years and coached golf at West Vigo High School for a few years in the spring.

He taught business for three years at Terre Haute South from 2016-18 and also served as an assistant athletic director.

Last year, he taught business and coached basketball at Southmont.

Turpen has formulated a strategy going into his first varsity basketball job in which his team will “play aggressively on both ends of the court” in a variety of methods.

“We are really going to get out and guard people, whether that will be man-to-man or zone,” he said. “We also love to shoot the three ball a lot.”

Turpen’s first team could be at a little bit of a disadvantage, as the Eagles lose three players from that 6-19 team — including leading scorer and all-county performer Steven Schnepp.

The other three Putnam County teams all return their entire starting five from last year, with each squad boasting one player who averaged more than 20 points per game.

All-county senior-to-be guard Trey Blaydes and senior-to-be forward Dru Teipen are the top returners for the Eagles.

Turpen saw South Putnam play once last season and has watched film of several other games.

“I’m going in as fresh and green as it can be, so it’s an opportunity for me to meet the kids as soon as we can and get started,” he said.

The current IHSAA rules will allow summer workouts to begin on July 1, and Turpen is looking forward to that day.

“It’s an awkward situation,” he said. “Hopefully if July 1 holds up, we can get in the gym and get to work.”

Turpen is thankful to principal Levi Yowell, athletic director Tom Starnes and the South Putnam school board for the opportunity.

“When I went to interview with Mr. Starnes, Mr. Yowell and the rest of the administration it was a really welcoming environment,” he said. “I got a really good feel, and thought this would be a great opportunity. I really appreciate them giving me my first varsity coaching job.”