ACC Basketball's Top 100: No. 97, Kiel Turpin

Welcome back to our countdown of the top 100 returning ACC players. It’s a long list, I know, but it’s a good list. Hopefully you haven’t seen too much bad grammar or too many spelling errors. So far, I’ve thrown a couple of non-scholarship players at you (see below), each with a long-but-possible shot at some playing time. At No. 97, let’s welcome our first scholarship player to the list.

PLAYER: Kiel Turpin

POSITION: Center

TEAM: Florida State

YEAR: Junior (Transfer)

TAPE: 6-11, 220

2010-11 STATS: 11.3 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 2.3 BPG (For Lincoln College)

DEEP THOUGHTS:

Technically Kiel Turpin is not an returning ACC player. He’s a Juco transfer from Illinois. In my mind though, community college is college and not high school, so I’m including transfers on this list (there are only a handful).

Turpin is the exactly the kind of player Florida State head coack Leonard Hamilton loves to bring to Tallahassee. He’s a tall, long-armed kid who prides himself on defense. He’s actually the son of Melvin Turpin, an All-American for Kentucky back when Leonard Hamilton was an assistant coach for the Wildcats. Sadly, Kiel’s father committed suicide last year. Let’s hope opposing fans don’t use this as material … ever.

As for Turpin’s game, he’s a pick-and-pop big man, who would rather shoot a jumper from the free-throw line than a hook shot with his back to the basket. Also, he’ll need to bulk up at some point if he’s going to break into the Florida State front court.

Overall, Turpin’s game will need some work. Yes, he was the MVP of the 2010 National Junior College Athletic Association Division II tournament, but he’s grown six inches since leaving high school, and he still needs to learn how to play in a big man’s body.

Unfortunately he only has two years of eligibility left, so he won’t have a lot of time to develop.

Heading into 2011-2012, one would think playing time would be hard to come by for Turpin. The Seminoles are stacked with Bernard James, Okaro White, Xavier Gibson and Jon Kreft occupying the paint, but two things come into play here.

First, Hamilton has never been one to shorten his bench. If he brought you to Tallahassee, he’s going to find minutes for you.

Second, all those big men mentioned above (except for Okaro White) are seniors. With no 2011 incoming freshman standing over 6-foot-7 (and with no 2012 commitments as of this writing), Turpin is the future, and the future is going to get some playing time this year. 

PREVIOUS PLAYERS:
No. 98 – DeAndre Hopkins, Guard (Clemson)
No. 99 – Kyle Speller, Guard (Georgia Tech)
No. 100 – Jay Lewis, Guard (North Carolina State)