Mark Turenshine

{{short description|American-Israeli basketball player (1944–2016)}}

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Mark Turenshine
מרק טורנשיין

| image =

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 5

| weight_lb =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1944|12|20}}

| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|2|26|1944|12|20}}

| death_place =

| nationality = American / Israeli

| high_school = Sheepshead Bay
(Brooklyn, New York)

| college = St. Francis Brooklyn (1963–1966)

| draft_year = 1966

| career_start =

| career_end =

| career_number =

| career_position =

| years1 = ?–?

| team1 = Hapoel Tel Aviv

| highlights =

}}

Mark Turenshine (also spelled "Torenshine"; {{Langx|he|מרק טורנשיין}}; December 20, 1944 – February 26, 2016) was an American-Israeli basketball player. He played for Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Israel Basketball Premier League from 1969 to 1977, and for the Israeli national basketball team.

Biography

Turenshine was born in Brooklyn, New York to a Jewish family.{{Cite web|url=https://jewishjournal.com/judaism/obituaries/183051/|title=Mark Turenshine, NBA star, Life Alert general manager, 71|date=March 2, 2016|website=Jewish Journal}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j2HdDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Mark+Turenshine%22+%22jewish%22&pg=PT533|title=The Wisdom of a Coach: Health, Wealth, Education, Athletics, a Game Plan for Life|first=Barry|last=Goldsmith|date=2020|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|isbn=9781984537188|via=Google Books}} He was {{convert|6|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}}.{{Cite web|url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00010090/01958|title=Maccabiah Games in Brazil Aug. 23 |website=The Jewish Floridian|date=August 12, 1966}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/12/10/archives/st-francis-five-highly-rated-but-it-needs-court-to-play-on.html|title=St. Francis Five Highly Rated, But It Needs Court to Play On|date=December 10, 1964|work=The New York Times}} He was later a resident of Canoga Park, California.

He attended and played basketball at Sheepshead Bay High School ('62).{{Cite web|url=https://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/07/prweb407238.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220003354/http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/07/prweb407238.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 20, 2008|title=Life Alert General Manager Mark Turenshine Shines Again with Third Hall of Fame Induction, Alongside "Seinfeld" Co-Creator Larry David|date=July 5, 2006}} It inducted Turenshine into the Sheepshead Bay High School Hall of Fame in 2012.{{Cite web|url=http://sbhsfounders.org/inductees.asp|title=SHEEPSHEAD BAY HIGH SCHOOL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES 2006|website=sbhsfounders.org}}

Turenshine then attended St. Francis College, and played basketball for the St. Francis Terriers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/mark-turenshine-1.html|title=Mark Turenshine College Stats|website=College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com}} In college he had a .558 per cent field goal percentage, including a .741 field goal percentage in the 1964–65 season. He was voted into the St. Francis College Hall of Fame in 2000. In 1966-67 he was voted New York City Amateur Athlete of the Year for basketball by the Downtown Athletic Club.

He played in the 1966 Pan American Maccabiah Games in Brazil, at which Team USA won a gold medal.Irad Tzafrir (November 14, 2017). [https://www-haaretz-co-il.translate.goog/sport/tapina/2017-11-14/ty-article/0000017f-e1f9-df7c-a5ff-e3fb52280000?_x_tr_sl=iw&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc&_x_tr_hist=true "Barry Leibovitz: "What did I stay in Israel for? Sea, hummus and tahini with olive oil,"] Haaretz.{{Cite web|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/djnews/djn.1966.08.12.001/14|date=August 12, 1966 |title= Maccabiah Games in Brazil Aug. 23|website=The Detroit Jewish News }} He played with, among others, Barry Leibowitz and future NBA players Dave Newmark and Rick Weitzman.Charley Rosen (2014). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Perfectly_Awful/Z6k5BAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Barry+Liebowitz%22+%22basketball%22&pg=PT5&printsec=frontcover Perfectly Awful; The Philadelphia 76ers' Horrendous and Hilarious 1972-1973 Season].

In 1968, Turenshine made aliyah. He joined the Israeli professional basketball team Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Israel Basketball Premier League, playing for it from 1969 to 1977.{{Cite web|url=http://basket.co.il/all-time-players.asp?PlayerId=10044&lang=en|title=ISRAEL BASKETBALL SUPER LEAGUE | History | All-Time Player Points | Mark Torenshine|website=basket.co.il}}{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/TheJerusalemPost1977IsraelEnglish|date=April 1, 1977|title= Israel|work=The Jerusalem Post Magazine}}

Turenshine also played for the Israeli national basketball team in the 1969 European Championship for Men, 1970 Asian Olympics (winning a silver medal), 1971 European Championship for Men, and 1972 Pre-Olympic Basketball Tournament.{{Cite web|url=https://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/player/p/pid/64006/sid/2956/tid/306/_/1972_Pre_Olympic_Basketball_Tournament/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329234440/http://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/player/p/pid/64006/sid/2956/tid/306/_/1972_Pre_Olympic_Basketball_Tournament/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 29, 2023|title=Mark Turenshine profile, Pre-Olympic Basketball Tournament 1972|website=FIBA.COM}}

He later returned to the United States and became a businessman. He rose to the position of general manager of the personal emergency services company Life Alert, where he worked for 35 years.

Turenshine died in 2016 and was buried at Mount Sinai, Simi Valley, California.