Whicker: UC Irvine basketball keeps playing long game under Russell Turner

IRVINE — There are college basketball teams, and then there are programs. For long years, UC Irvine struggled to tell the difference.
It would pick up a Raimonds Miglinieks here, a Jerry Green there, and prosper for a season or two. When they left, so did the plan.
This is Coach Russell Turner’s 10th season, and after last season’s Big West Conference Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament first-round win over Kansas State, he signed a six-year contract extension. In those