UAA announced that Cameron Turner will be the next men’s basketball head coach during a press conference on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (Bill Roth / ADN)

The University of Alaska Anchorage will welcome back a familiar face to lead the men’s basketball program following the retirement of longtime head coach Rusty Osborne, who was at the helm for 21 years.

During a press conference Tuesday at the Alaska Airlines Center, the athletic department officially announced the hiring of Cameron Turner as the seventh head coach in program history.

Turner returns to the program that he served on as an assistant coach from 2011 to 2017. He started as a graduate assistant and then was the lead assistant for six years and also held the title of recruiting coordinator for the final five.

Turner was born in Lake Oswego, Oregon, and graduated from Southern Oregon University in 2004.

“First I want to thank coach Osborne for believing in me all those years ago when I was coming from Oregon, to give me a chance to be a college coach and then our friendship has grown,” Turner said. “This means a lot to me. I want to thank my wife first for letting me live my dreams to be a college coach. Coming to Alaska, going to Arizona and now coming back to Alaska.”

UAA announced that Cameron Turner, left, will be the next men’s basketball head coach succeeding Rusty Osborne, right, during a press conference on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (Bill Roth / ADN)

During his first stint on staff, the Seawolves were 116-60 and developed multiple All-Americans, including star guard Suki Wiggs and forward/center Taylor Rohde, who Division II Bulletin named the NCAA National Player of the Year in 2012.

“Even though he worked for me, he went through the search process with the search committee and I’m thrilled that our administration and (athletic director Tanya Pont) and chancellor (Cheryl) Siemers have named him our new basketball coach,” Osborne said.

Osborne turns over the keys to the program where he set the UAA record for the most wins with 382 and also racked up the most in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history with 221. Despite the enormous shoes he’s filling, Turner feels prepared for the role.

“This is a dream come true,” he said. “I’m proud to be here and really carry on that legacy and to grow it to new heights. That’s a challenge for me is to grow it and bring these quality young men that I know that they have that are standing here and to bring in others to continue the Seawolf way.”

During his time away from the Seawolves, Turner was busy building the Eastern Arizona College men’s and women’s basketball programs into powerhouses of the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference.

As the women’s team head coach for five seasons, he compiled an 88-55 record, guided the team to a conference and Region I title, two runner-up finishes and a Sweet 16 berth in the NJCAA Tournament. He was named ACCAC and West District Coach of the Year in 2020.

UAA announced that Cameron Turner will be the next men’s basketball head coach during a press conference on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Turner spent the last four seasons stewarding the men’s team to a 95-32 record, including a pair of Region I titles and ACCAC championships. He now takes over a Seawolves program that earned NCAA tournament berths in two of the past three seasons.

“Coaching men’s and women’s is the same but different,” Turner said. “I thought being a women’s head coach actually helped me be a better men’s coach because coaching women’s, women just listen better. Your words mean more so you learn what to say more clearly and defined than on the men’s side so that when I took that to the men’s side, it helped me be a better men’s head coach.”

While UAA is losing All-GNAC forward Sylas Williams to the transfer portal, it is returning a wealth of prominent local talent that includes Wasilla’s Parker Kroon, Dimond’s Luke Johnston and Marek Hajdukovich and Bettye Davis East Anchorage’s Muhammed Sabally, the 2025 Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year. Turner hopes to continue the pipeline of some of state’s top homegrown players flowing into the program.

“You always recruit from the inside out and they have to fit the culture we have here of being Seawolves,” he said. “That matters most to me so we’ll look at those kids.”

Dating back to the late 1970s, all of the UAA men’s basketball head coaches have had previous experience on their successor’s staff as assistants. By handing over the reins to Turner, the Seawolves are continuing that tradition.

“I’m thrilled to see that legacy continue and I’ve told him that I expect he will do a better job than I did,” Osborne said. “I will be either in the stands or watching online cheering him on and trying to be whatever resource I can for him.”