In Minnesota high school sports, Black coaches and administrators leading suburban programs often do their best work far from the spotlight. Charles Hallman and Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald brought three of them together for one of the most wide-ranging episodes in Blacklight on Sports history.
Adrian Turner, activities director at Roseville High School. David Collier, head basketball coach at Apple Valley High School. Aaron Turner, head basketball coach at Two Rivers High School. Three men, three programs, and one honest conversation about what it takes to build something lasting while navigating systems that were not always built with them in mind.
How They Got Here
Each guest arrived at their current role by a different path, but a common thread ran through all three stories: service.
Aaron Turner, who spent a decade at White Bear Lake before taking the head job at Two Rivers this past season, said coaching chose him more than he chose it. A mentor at a Boys and Girls Club in Kenosha, Wisconsin, spotted something in him early and invited him to coach before he was ready to stop playing.
“I didn’t choose basketball or coaching. I didn’t choose education. It chose me,” he said. “I’ve been led, and I’ve gone with the lead.”
The moment that crystallized his purpose came when a mother invited him to her son’s graduation party, a young man Turner had coached who had lost his father. He had not known the full weight of what he meant to that kid until that day.
“I knew how important this job was and that moment was like, ‘I need this probably more than this kid needs me,'” he said.
David Collier’s path to Apple Valley ran through injuries. At Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he played after graduating from DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis, he fractured both wrists in consecutive years. The injuries accelerated a shift he might have eventually made anyway.
“How can I figure out a way to still be a part of this game that I love, be able to work with young people, help them find their dreams and goals?” he said.
He returned to DeLaSalle to coach at the lowest levels, worked his way up over 16 seasons, and when the Apple Valley head job opened up after his family had moved to the area, he threw his name in.
Adrian Turner, Aaron’s brother, grew up in the same household, rooted in the AME Church and a strong sense of service. His path into activities administration came partly from experiencing systems that failed him and deciding he wanted to lead differently.
“If I was in those shoes, could I have a positive impact on people who look like me?” he said. “Being on top of a position, being ahead, I know I can make a change through the Black lens of an AME church where you learn Black history and how those who came before you lead.”
The Black Coach Mentality
One of the episode’s sharpest exchanges came when the three guests discussed the reality that Black coaches rarely get to be selective about where they land.
“I hear coaches in the metro where they’re able to be picky about where they go,” Hallman said. “I don’t think Black coaches have that opportunity. You got to get in where you fit in.”
All three agreed. Collier said when he took the Apple Valley job, he did not look at what players were in the building. He just saw an opportunity to lead and took it.
“That’s literally how I felt,” he said. “When opportunity came, I took it.”
Aaron Turner put it plainly.
“I feel like I’m not entitled to pick the people that you’re going to help in your life,” he said. “They needed me. I feel like I was led to Two Rivers because they needed me.”
Adrian Turner added a broader observation about the expectation that comes with Black coaches in rebuilding situations.
“Black coaches are cleaning up more times than we’re being handed a ‘keep this going,'” he said.
Apple Valley’s State Tournament Run
The episode’s most detailed basketball conversation centered on David Collier’s Apple Valley program, which made a deep state tournament run this past season. When Collier arrived four years ago, the program had won nine games in the previous two seasons combined.
He credited his associate head coach CJ Hallman, a longtime collaborator, as an essential part of building the foundation. His philosophy was simple and consistent: chop wood, carry water every day, and fall in love with the process.
The state tournament run began with a quarterfinal matchup against Wayzata, the preseason favorite. Apple Valley fell behind 16-3 to start the game.
“A lot of people would probably be like, ‘Oh, it’s over,'” Collier said. “I called a timeout and we just kept fighting.”
The Eagles rallied and won. The semifinal brought a rematch opportunity against Maple Grove, a team that had beaten Apple Valley the previous year at state.
“It was a sour taste in our mouth,” Collier said. “We left it all on the floor and we were able to beat them in a decisive game where they had four Division I players.”
The run ended in the championship game against Chaska, a team that had won 24 straight games after starting their season 3-4.
“Two teams that were hot and wanted it really bad came out on top,” Collier said. “It’s bittersweet because you enjoy the run, the journey, a lot of life lessons, a lot of memories that will last a lifetime.”
Four seniors from that team moved on to college programs. Ryan Christensen to baseball at the University of Minnesota. Talon Ward Jr. to football at Columbia University. Kamari Young to Fork Union Military Academy to continue developing his basketball career. Trey Parker to the University of Sioux Falls on a basketball scholarship.
Collier noted that for half of his seniors, basketball was not even their primary sport.
“They bought in,” he said. “Basketball wasn’t their favorite or their best sport, and we made it to the state championship game.”
Representation and Why It Matters
All three men spoke directly about the weight of being visible in roles where Black leaders are rarely seen.
Collier described former players who are now lawyers, MBA holders, and Harvard Business School graduates reaching back to thank him for something he said or a 6 a.m. practice that instilled discipline they still draw on years later.
“We’re extensions of their household,” he said. “We’re like parents to them. I’m going to do my best to model what it looks like to be a real man and make sure that whether you play basketball for a long time or not, you’re going to be a better person.”
Aaron Turner said he lives for the moment a young person realizes their head coach is Black.
“I live for that moment because I know that at that very moment, that kid is realizing or being exposed to something he’s never been exposed to,” he said. “We’re representing and beating odds that aren’t in our favor.”
Adrian Turner described using the lunchroom at Roseville as his primary relationship-building tool, playing Connect Four with students so that when he has to hold them accountable later, the relationship is already there.
On Specialization and Multi-Sport Athletes
The conversation turned to the growing trend of youth athletes specializing in a single sport at younger ages and the burnout that often follows.
Collier pointed to his own state tournament team as evidence that multi-sport athletes bring something single-sport players often lack.
“For half of my seniors, basketball was not their sport,” he said. “They were multi-sport athletes who bought in.”
Aaron Turner talked about his two-year-old son who wakes up in the middle of the night to shoot on his small hoop, asking his players to reconnect with that feeling of pure love for the game.
“What is that magic? He’s not getting reps for the NBA. The fame, the hype, none of that is real to him,” he said. “I challenge my players with that.”
Adrian Turner noted that multi-sport athletes bring confidence and composure across contexts, having learned how to fail publicly and get back up in different competitive environments.
Hallman added his own observation, recounting how Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne once came to watch a St. Paul Central basketball game just to see how a football recruit reacted to adversity in real time, away from the controlled environment of a football field.
Collier confirmed the same dynamic played out at Apple Valley, with Columbia University scouts attending basketball practice to watch Talon Ward Jr. move and compete.
“They wanted to see how he moved on the basketball court and how it relates to football,” Collier said. “They offered shortly thereafter.”
Pearls of Wisdom
Adrian Turner closed with two things: relationships matter more than almost anything, and doing the right thing consistently creates options.
“Wouldn’t be where I am today without the relationships I’ve built,” he said. “Do the right thing so you have options to navigate where you want to be and how to get there.”
David Collier returned to his foundational philosophy.
“Keep on chopping wood and carrying water. Keep falling in love with that process of becoming better each and every day. You can fall, but how you react from that fall is what determines your character.”
Aaron Turner closed with Ubuntu, the African philosophy rooted in the idea that a person is a person through other people.
“I am because we are,” he said. “Be a part of something bigger than yourself. Say yes to things. I would have never said yes to a Boys and Girls Club basketball job if I didn’t have that mentality, and I don’t think I would be where I am today.”