After four years at the helm of his alma mater, Troy Turman is leaving Pleasant Home to become the new head basketball coach at Florala High School.

“I just felt like it was time for a change,” Turman said of the move. “Not just for me, but for Pleasant Home as well.”

Turman said the move was all about the opportunity at Florala and nothing to do with anything negative at Pleasant Home.

“Honestly, this is more about the opportunity at Florala,” Turman said. “I really feel like this is just a good fit for me and for Florala.”

While meeting with school officials at Florala, Turman said he knew it was where he wanted to be.

“After talking with them, the things they were saying lined up with what I want,” Turman said. “They are wanting to build a winning culture, and not just for basketball. We shared a lot of the same visions.”

Turman said that it wasn’t an easy decision to leave Pleasant Home.

“Pleasant Home has and always will be a special place to me,” Turman said. “We accomplished a lot of good things on and off the court in my four years at Pleasant Home. We helped turn that program back in the right direction. I invested a lot of time and effort into those kids and that program. The hardest part is leaving the kids that I’ve put in some much time and hard work with. This decision was best for my family and for myself. It’s nothing negative against Pleasant Home. It is a special place to me. It’s where I went to school and played basketball. That made it a tough decision.”

Change can be difficult, but Turman said that he is looking forward to getting started at Florala.

“I want to bring a lot of enthusiasm and a hard-working mentality,” Turman said. “I’m looking forward to putting my stamp on the program. I want to bring an aggression to the defense and implement our offense. I really want to go in there and get the guys working hard so that we can build something special.”

Turman said that the talent is there for Florala to succeed.

“This is a good up-and-coming program,” Turman said of Florala. “They have a group of kids that want to win. The ninth graders from last year are a very good group and I’ve been impressed with the younger players. My goal is to become a part of the Florala family.”

Despite leaving Pleasant Home, Turman said that he appreciates his time there.

“I’m very appreciative of the opportunity that I’ve had at Pleasant Home,” Turman said. “It’s where I went to school and I’ve a lot of great memories. I can always say that I gave 110-percent to Pleasant Home in my four years there. I want to thank everyone for the support and love at Pleasant Home.”

Turman was 63-49 with one area championship, two area runners-up, three straight winning seasons and a trip to the Elite Eight in four years at Pleasant Home.

In nine years as a head coach, Turman has a record of 160-99 and four area championships.