Turpin wins MVP award

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Lincoln College's Kiel Turpin dunks the ball in the basket Saturday night during the NJCAA men's national tournament at DACC. Susan Joy McKinney/Commercial-News

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March 20, 2011

BY CHAD DARE Commercial-News The Commercial-News Sun Mar 20, 2011, 12:57 AM CDT

DANVILLE — Kiel Turpin burst onto the college basketball map a year ago with his MVP performance in the 2010 NJCAA Division II National Tournament.

The 6-foot-11 sophomore center from Normal West went from virtual unknown to being the focus of every team in the 2011 National Tournament.

Turpin handled it all in stride as he scored 19 points, pulled down seven rebounds and blocked three shots to lead the Lincoln College Lynx past the Mott Bears 74-67 to claim back-to-back National Titles.

For his efforts, Turpin became just the second back-to-back MVP of the NJCAA Division II National Tournament, joining Jeff Massey of Owens Technical College.

“I wasn’t even thinking I was getting the MVP, I was still just shocked that we won it again,’’ said Turpin, who averaged 14 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game for the Lynx (28-7). “I think it’s really special honor to win it back-to-back years, and it’s hard to believe how far that I’ve come.’’

Turpin was basically a project for Lincoln College coach Kirk Whiteman coming out of Normal West and he went from being a player that rarely touched the ball to being the No. 1 guy on the scouting reports of every team at the NJCAA Tournament.

“Last year, I was a complimentary player to (Lincoln all-American forward) Chris Ware,’’ Turpin said. “This year, I had to be the go-to guy on the low post.

“That was a major change.’’

And Whiteman said that Turpin handled it “great.’’

“That comes from his parents, Chris and Lisa Nichols,’’ Whiteman said. “Everyone has ups and downs in life. You deal with them and move on. That’s what successful people do.’’

Turpin’s MVP honor also won him a friendly bet with sophomore teammate DeMarius Sumrell.

“That was just something to motivate each of us to make sure that we accomplished our main goal of winning back-to-back titles,’’ said Sumrell, who averaged 13.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.3 steals a contest. “As long as he or I got that award, I was happy.’’

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