ADA – As part of the 2014 Homecoming festivities, the East Central University baseball team had several announcements to enhance the team and the field.  The Tigers started the day by announcing that the field will now be known as Ken Turner Field.  The ECU Foundation also announced the Ken Turner Athletic Campaign that included the endowment of the Chris Lane Centennial Scholarship.

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Coach Turner, a long-time baseball and basketball coach and educator at ECU, was on hand for the announcement of the field name with members of his family.  Turner came to the Tigers as a student-athlete and earned a bachelor's degree (1962) and his master's (1968) from then East Central State Teachers College and a second master's (1972) from the University of Oklahoma.

In 1967 Turner became a member of the ECU faculty and continued in his post until his retirement in 1994.  During those years, he coached both basketball and baseball from 1967 through 1990.  He served as both the head baseball coach and an assistant men's basketball coach under legendary coach Jerry Anderson.

During his 23 years at the helm of the Tigers baseball program, Turner won 467 games and was honored as Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference Coach of the Year in 1979.
"The groundswell for the naming of this facility for coach Turner has grown tremendously since I became the president of East Central University," said ECU President John Hargrave.  "I am so honored to be here today to bestow this honor on coach Turner."

On the faculty side, Turner was a favorite among students for whom he served as advisor and instructor.  Many students today speak highly of coach Turner and the impact he has had in their lives.  He also served as the Chair of the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation during his time at ECU.

"I am so honored to be here today in honor of coach Turner," said former student-athlete Robert Dudley.  "One of the first things I learned when I walked on to this field for fall practice was that coach Turner's expectations were high on the field and in the classroom, but those expectations helped me learn responsibility and accountability, which have helped me greatly throughout my life."

"The naming of this field has become a reality because of my great student-athletes, friends and family and I want to thank them all for supporting me and this honor," said Turner.

The day also included the announcement of the Ken Turner Athletic Campaign through the ECU Foundation.  The dividends from the $100,000 endowment will perpetually support the bat and ball sports at ECU in coach Turner's name.  During the silent phase of the campaign donations have already exceeded $47,000.

The day's sentiments continued with the announcement of the Chris Lane Centennial Scholarship by ECU Director of Athletics Dr. Jeff Williams.   The scholarship will be awarded to a graduate assistant coach each season.

The scholarship is a result of the Chris Lane Memorial Fund, which included working closely with the Lane family to memorialize their son.  Lane will be remembered as a wonderful young man with a kind heart and magnetic personality.  He was a student-athlete that could be looked to for advice and support.

"Coach Turner and Chris Lane both came to ECU during vastly different time periods in our institutions history," Williams commented.  "They came for ECU baseball, but their impact was campus wide.  I am pleased that our athletic program will forever honor these two individuals with a permanent legacy at ECU."

Donations can be made to the ECU Foundation, Inc. at : http://alumni.ecok.edu/donations/ or by contacting ECU Foundation Executive Director Phyllis Danley at 580-559-5514.