Ex-Arizona Guard Josiah Turner Released From NBL (Canada)

Josiah Turner, who was once regarded as one of the nation’s top point guards before a well-documented fallout at Arizona, is back in the news. After a brief stint in Hungary, Turner joined Halifax Rainmen of the NBL (Canada). And now, merely 15 games into the season, Turner yet again had a fallout with the team, culminating in an ugly split. The ChronicleHerald.Ca has the details: “Turner, 20, averaged 9.8 points and 3.7 assists in 15 games with the Rainmen, including eight starts. But he had fallen out of favour in recent weeks and hadn’t dressed for Halifax’s last four games. ‘Josiah just didn’t buy into my system,’ Rainmen coach Rob Spon said Wednesday. ‘Josiah wanted to do what Josiah wanted to do.’ Rivals.com had rated Turner the No. 2 high school point guard in the U.S. when he arrived at Arizona amid much hype. Numerous publications considered him a probable top-20 pick in the 2012 NBA draft. ‘I saw right away the talent that kid had,’ said Spon, whose insertion of Turner into the starting lineup was one of his first moves when he took over the coaching reins from Cliff Levingston on Nov. 21. ‘Josiah’s just young. I’d call a set during a timeout I want run and he wouldn’t run it. … Josiah just didn’t warm up very well. Coming to games, I see him sitting around, I yell and he just gives me attitude. During practice and games, it just wasn’t working.'”