Inside Jamaica Basketball's Rise with Head Coach Rick Turner
The 25-year climb that has NBA players ready to suit up
Whatsup Squad,
One of the most exciting storylines in sports right now is the Jamaica men’s national basketball team.
And this week, I had the pleasure of sitting down with the coach who will be leading that group.
Rick Turner is the Head Coach and National Coordinator for Jamaica Basketball.
He brings over three decades of experience that includes nine seasons in the Seattle SuperSonics front office, coaching stints at the University of Washington and in China’s pro league, and grassroots work in Haiti and Jamaica.
How does someone from Kirkland, WA end up in Jamaica? When did you first visit and how did you get involved with Jamaica Basketball?
About 26 years ago, I was invited with another guy to do a camp in Kingston, Jamaica through the Jumpball Basketball Programme.
And I went down there and it was the hardest week of work I had done at that point for a long time. We had to sweep gravel off the courts beforehand and we ended up with four barrels full of gravel. There were no nets on the rims. We had about 30 kids and five local Jamaican volunteers.
And I thought, OK, well, this was fun. I don’t see myself going back again. And then a year went by, and my friend asked me if I wanted to go back. And I thought, yeah, let’s do it. Now, 26 years later, we’re still doing the camp.
It’s free for boys and girls ages 10 to 15. The camp has moved to the national stadium. We have six basketball courts. We have 300 kids. We do seven more camps around the island that are led by our Jamaican coaches. We now have 30 to 40 Jamaican coach volunteers. And the program has just exploded.
So within that time, I got to know the landscape of basketball in the country and had a pretty good idea of what I thought the potential for success was. And I put a proposal together and in 2019, Jamaica Basketball President Paulton Gordon decided to give me an opportunity to put my plan into place.
What was it about the basketball landscape in Jamaica that made you think this was an opportunity worth pursuing?
It had been a dream of mine to do this. I had originally approached the Minister of Sport, Minister Grange, back in 2008. I remember I sent her a proposal while I was coaching over in China.
And then JABA — the Jamaica Basketball Association, the governing body of basketball in Jamaica — went through some up periods for sure, especially in the early 2010s.
They had some really good success on the world stage. But from probably 2013 until the time that I was hired, there were some leadership changes and the program was not getting much support. And they hadn’t really done anything to earn that support. So I just looked at it. I knew what it can be. I knew what Coach Vincent had done with the team in 2012, 2013.
And also, there were just a lot of players moving on to have success in the States — guys like Nick Richards, Romaro Gill, Kofi Cockburn, and a slew of others. And I thought: this is our time. I think if given the opportunity and the backing, the support, we can make this happen.
The only thing holding us back forever has been funding, which is hard to come by. It’s hard to come by anywhere.
So if we’re able to find the proper funding and to run the program the way that it should be run, and we build a youth program — which is part of what we’re trying to do as well — then there’s no reason that we can’t be competing on an elite level year in and year out.
Can you speak on the headlines around NBA players showing interest in playing for the national team?
There are a lot of reports about players that have either expressed an interest or said they want to play for Jamaica. And I would say there’s some mixed truth to that.
We’ve spoken with all of them. Most of them don’t have their citizenship yet, don’t have a passport yet. And the FIBA rule is that you have to have either been born in the country or obtain your citizenship before the age of 16.
That’s why we’re starting to make a push ourselves — reaching out to 14, 15-year-olds that are playing at a high level, or even some that aren’t yet, because you never know where they’ll be in a few years.
What does the actual roster look like today and what do you hope for it to look like this summer?
Yeah, the roster I wouldn’t say is set for this August. We’re going to invite a group of 16 to 20 guys to a training camp in Boca Raton, Florida, in late July, early August, ahead of our tournament. From that group of players, we’ll come down to our final 12.
The group we have is an excellent group of players that are going to be super competitive. They’re going to be led by three NBA guys — Norman Powell, Josh Minott, and Nick Richards. But just because some of these other guys don’t have NBA resumes doesn’t mean they’re not elite players.
You’ve got a guy like Kofi Cockburn who was setting records and is probably the most decorated Jamaican basketball player since Patrick Ewing — doing the things he was doing: Wooden Award candidate, first team All-American, preseason and postseason.
Final Thoughts
After nearly three decades of slow but steady work, Coach Turner’s vision is finally within reach.
Jamaica may soon become one of international basketball’s elite.
Along with leaders like Cedella Marley and Paulton Gordon, Coach Turner is part of the village driving Jamaica Basketball’s rise.
And you can be a part of that village too.
With fundraising as a major challenge, you can support Jamaica Basketball’s youth program here.
Look out for the full video interview with Coach Turner dropping next week!
Until next time ✌🏾
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