Tennessee State center likes chances with Lakers

Photo: #44, Former TSU's Larry Turner

By MIKE ORGAN, The Tennessean

Larry Turner didn't exactly bounce right from college basketball to the NBA.

There was plenty of unfinished business the 6-foot-11 Turner needed to tend to after graduating last spring from Tennessee State University.

Eventually he signed a two-year free agent contract with the Lakers. He arrived in Los Angeles just this week, and Wednesday went through his first workout, a one-on-one session with Lakers' forward-center Kwame Brown.

"I'm excited and looking forward to it,'' Turner said. "It's always been my dream to play in the NBA."

Hearing that Turner, who averaged 5.8 points and 6.1 rebounds for TSU, had signed with the Lakers came as a surprise for some. The 2005 transfer from Oklahoma was never a consistent contributor for the Tigers and didn't even stay in the starting lineup.

After leaving TSU, Turner relied on a local training facility, Velocity Sports Performance in Cool Springs.

When Turner showed up, he was 233 pounds and determined to get bigger and stronger, according to Mick Weber, Director of Sports Performance at the facility. Working two-hour sessions, five times a week, Turner increased his bench press from 300 to 335 pounds, and bulked up to 255 pounds. Turner worked feverishly to improve his game. He worked one-on-one with Pistons star Nazr Mohammed and the Celtics' Rajon Rondo, and played in the NBA Summer League.

Under the deal, Turner will have to play well in next month's camp to make the team, said his agent Holman Harley. He'll be guaranteed his yearly salary — which Harley refused to disclose — if he can stick until Jan. 10.

"I was able to run the floor pretty well in the summer league,'' Turner said. "I led the Lakers in blocked shots and they liked that."

"He's a big guy that runs the floor, plays hard, listens, blocks shots, rebounds the basketball," Lakers assistant coach and former player Kurt Rambis told Lakers.com. "He's big and strong and has a big body."
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From Lakers sources...

In August of last year, the Star ran a story on Turner, who had been sent by TSU to the Philippines for six weeks of training under Kirk Collier, the skills coach of San Miguel Beer and Ginebra San Miguel in the PBA. He is the first ever player signed by the Los Angeles Lakers that trained in the Philippines.

I’m very happy for Larry, he’s a really good person," Collier told The Star. "If he stays with the team beyond Jan. 10, then his contract will be binding."

Collier worked with Turner on his post moves and perimeter game, and believes the former Oklahoma player will be a good fit with the league’s superstars, like Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom.

"He has a long way to go, but he’s earned this opportunity," says Collier, who originally came to the Philippines to train the players of Red Bull. "What he has to do now is fit in, and not try to be a big scorer right away."