Turret Quits Birmingham Post to Assist at L. A. City

Elliot Turret has resigned as basketball coach at Birmingham High to serve as a walk-on assistant to Reggie Morris at L. A. City College.

A replacement has not been named for Turret, who will remain at the Van Nuys school as an English teacher. Turret, who guided Crossroads to three Southern Section titles earlier this decade, led Birmingham to second-place league finishes in each of his two years at the school. The Braves posted an 11-9 overall record in 1987-88 and earned a berth in the City Section 3-A Division playoffs. Last season they were 9-12 overall and lost a wild-card game to Poly that prevented them from advancing to the playoffs.

“I’ve got mixed feelings about leaving because I feel for the kids, but I thought this was the best career move for me,” Turret said. “I want to get involved in another level of basketball. I can learn the junior college system of basketball and work with players that have Division I ability.”

Turret worked with Morris at Manual Arts from 1976-80. Morris led Manual Arts to the state basketball title two seasons ago and left the school to resurrect the L. A. City program that was discontinued seven years ago.

Turret left Manual Arts in 1981 to coach at Crossroads and in five seasons at the Santa Monica school led the Roadrunners to five consecutive appearances in a Southern Section final and three championships at the 1-A and Small Schools levels.

He left Crossroads after the 1986 season and took a year off from teaching but rejoined Morris’ staff at Manual Arts.