Child prodigy to championship winner: CJ’s remarkable rise

As an active five-year-old, CJ Turnage could always be found in his Detroit home with a basketball in his hand. 

His parents could see the sparkle in his eye when running around with the ball and dribbling it around the house, so they put him on a basketball team in their local township. 

Having only seen him around the house with a basketball, Turnage’s parents didn’t really know what to expect when he stepped out on the court for the first time. 

In fact, his Dad, Calvin arrived late to his very first game. 

“My Dad was late to my first game because he had work, he would’ve come in at about halftime,” Turnage reflects. 

“When he came in, one of his friends said, ‘Hey man, you’ve got to come in and watch this kid! This kid in here is amazing!’ 

“He was like, ‘Who are you talking about?’ 

“So, he went in there, his friend showed him the kid and the kid was me. 

“My Dad said, ‘That’s my son!’ 

“That was the first time he saw me play and my first proper basketball game.” 

From there, Turnage rose to fame at Milan High School in Michigan, receiving first-team All-Huron League honours as a freshman. 

He then backed that up in his sophomore year.

In his junior year, he went one better and earned an All-State honourable mention to go with being named in the All-Huron League first team for a third straight year.

By the time he was a senior, Turnage had the titles of Washtenaw County Player of the Year, Huron League Player of the Year and Heritage Media Player of the Year to go with scoring 1000 points during his four-year career.

At Saginaw Valley University, he was named to the All-GLIAC (The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) First Team and also earned NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) Division II All-Districts First Team and D2CCA (Division II Conference Commissioners Association) All-Midwest Region Second Team honours. 

Funnily enough, college was where the American started to get familiar with Australia, thanks to a fellow NBL1 star. 

“My best friend there was Caleb Davis who now plays for Warwick in NBL1 West,” Turnage explains. 

“I had to show him everything over there like the food and how the money works, plus I had to take him everywhere. 

“I got connected to Adelaide in my first year out of college because Caleb was a development player for the Adelaide 36ers. 

“He also played for the South Adelaide Panthers. 

“I came out here and played with the Southern Tigers. 

“He was showing me around as I did for him in America. 

“He made it really easy for me to make the transition from college in America to playing in Australia.” 

In his first year out of college and in Australia, Turnage became an instant hit in South Australian basketball, winning a championship with the Southern Tigers in 2018. 

The Tigers had a star-studded team back then, featuring the likes of Forestville’s Greg Mays and Brandon Brines as well as South Adelaide’s Samuel Johns. 

After experiencing team success, 2019 became all about CJ Turnage, as he had a “breakout year” and took out the league’s MVP and prestigious Woollacott Medal. 

In 2020, Turnage faced many unexpected prospects. 

He wasn’t expecting to sign with Norwood nor transform into a point guard for the first time in his career, and he definitely wasn’t expecting to be facing a global pandemic in the thick of it all. 

But here he is now, laughing joyfully on the phone as he expresses his excitement about playing in the inaugural NBL1 Central Finals. 

In his own words, “it’s easier when you’re winning to be happy”, and that’s exactly what the Flames have been doing. 

After starting the season a bit flat with their star point guard Andrew Webber tearing his ACL, the Flames went on a six-game winning streak at the perfect time of the NBL1 Central season, earning a finals berth as the third seed.

“I feel like we’re playing good basketball at the right time of the season,” Turnage says. 

“We’ve had to make adjustments throughout the season and it’s been rough for us mentally, trying to figure out what the team is. 

“We’ve got a good vibe going with our team right now, training is going well, we’re playing hard and we hope we can take that same momentum into finals.” 

For Turnage, he says he won’t do much differently to physically prepare for finals, citing the importance of the mental game at this time of the year. 

Having a good mentality has always been important for the 26-year-old, putting his mindset to the test when he switched from a forward to a point guard to lead the team into finals. 

“You definitely have to approach finals differently,” Turnage says. 

“It’s a significantly more important game than a regular-season game. 

“I may not do anything more physically but I definitely approach it differently mentally. 

“I learnt from the start of the season that it is a mental game. 

“I transformed to the point guard spot because Andrew Webber tore his ACL at the start of the season. 

“We tried a different point guard at the start of the season but we just weren’t clicking. 

“I thought this was a role I could play since I felt like I’m a good passer and I was good at setting people up. 

“So, I started getting in the gym with my coach outside of training more often to learn the point guard position because I’ve never played point guard in my life. 

“It took a few rounds to get accustomed to setting me and others up. 

“It was a big mental adjustment but I think that me playing the point guard spot was another part of our success at the same time.” 

While playing finals is what every team strives for, having fun along the way is also important. 

Turnage says he often has the best seat in the house when his teammate and human highlight reel Anthony Green goes to work. 

Green’s energy helped Turnage and his teammates get into their groove as the regular season went on. 

“I know it looks great watching Anthony dunk online but passing it to him and watching him dunk it feels even better,” Turnage says.

“Sometimes I get so hyped off him dunking that it makes me feel like I was the one who dunked. 

“He’s a highlight reel guy and has been playing a lot better since getting here the day before our first game after he finished quarantine. 

“He had to adjust to the refereeing in Australian basketball and stuff like that but he’s done a good job. 

“He’s been a big part of our success because of his impact on games. 

“I feel like I’ve been making a big impact too but we’ve also had other guys step up lately.

“We went on a six-game winning streak recently and it was solely because of guys like Matt Lycett, Ray Harding, Anthony Green and even Moses Nuangki before he went to college.

“We just had guys stepping up and it made it a lot easier for me because teams had to worry about other players. 

“We were more respected as a team because of those other players. 

“I think that’s played a big part in our recent success.” 

Turnage and the Flames will be hoping to continue their successful season against Forestville, and Turnage’s former Tigers championship teammates Mays and Brine, in Saturday’s NBL1 Central Qualifying Final. 

While it may not be a do-or-die game for the Flames, the significance of the occasion certainly isn’t lost on Turnage. 

“Forestville has got great players like Greg Mays, Michael Harris, Brandon Brine and Jake Rios,” he says. 

“Malith (Machar) is also very good! 

“They’ve got the size, they’ve got everything. 

“I think we’ll match up well to them with our size and what we can do. 

“We just have to make them shoot tough shots. 

“I think it’ll be a great game.”

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