I’ll readily admit that I’ve been absent this basketball season. Frankly, it’s because I couldn’t stomach the product being churned out anymore. Like many others, I’ve lost hope that Arkansas will ever be great (much less relevant) again.
There was a time when the Razorback basketball team was nationally recognized and feared. Bud Walton Arena was sold out. Fans wanting tickets needed to get in line on a waiting list. The Kentucky game was a Sunday afternoon showcase on CBS and one of the toughest tickets in the state.
The monster that Eddie Sutton birthed and Nolan Richardson nurtured into adulthood was a sight to behold. 24 conference titles, 29 NCAA Tournament appearances, 10 Sweet 16 appearances, 10 Elite 8 appearances, 6 Final Four appearances, 2 Title game appearances, and a National Championship. Annual trips to the NCAA tournament were not only anticipated…they were expected.
Yet, here we sit in year four of John Pelphrey’s tenure and the familiar refrain of “one more year” is being used by the administration and Pelphrey supporters to keep Razorback fans hanging on to that proverbial rope.
But my question really isn’t as much about this season because, unlike our coaching staff, I don’t believe we’ve overachieved. It’s more about what the future holds for Razorback basketball with John Pelphrey and Jeff Long as its stewards.
Can they get the program back to the upper echelon where it belongs and once stood? Are we really one year away? Is this recruiting class the silver bullet? Have we fixed the APR issues and removed all the cancers? What other obstacles not mentioned are blocking our path back to greatness?
At what point in a coach’s tenure does it begin to be about results rather than excuses? For some Razorback fans, we are past that point and want a change to be made. For others, there are still obstacles and excuses to explain the results. And the rest hold the opinion that Jeff Long knows best and will support whoever coaches the basketball team.
I’ve been in the first camp for most of the last two seasons. I don’t ever recall being in the last camp, as I’m too much of a critical thinker and independent for that.
However, as this season wraps up, I find myself in the excuses camp — and not for the reasons that most are. Simply stated: I’m tired of Razorback basketball not living up to expectations and as a fan being told we’ve not had enough time (i.e. wait until next year).
If in five years you haven’t established a firm foundation on which to build your program, you aren’t going to. Show me a program that needs more than five years, and I’ll show you the Baylor basketball program after the scandal.
The scandal left Baylor’s basketball program in ruin. Under new coach Scott Drew, the Bears only won a total of 36 games (and only 13 conference games) from 2003 to 2007. However, Drew quickly turned the program around after his recruits arrived; the Bears made the NCAA Tournament in 2008, finished second in the 2009 NIT, and lost in the Elite Eight of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
The Razorback basketball program was not in that kind of shape when Stan Heath and John Pelphrey were handed the keys. Simply put…we’ve made the wrong hires the last two times the position has been open.
However, with that being said, I am strongly in favor of giving John Pelphrey and staff one more year and here’s why: It will remove all of the excuses.
You see, I’m a firm believer that you are what your track record says you are. (And I need not remind you about John Pelphrey’s track record.) We’re getting ready to see what we have next season. Do we have a young coach, learning on the job and on the cusp of turning the corner? Or have we seen this movie before?
Case in point: What would Danny Ford have done with his recruits had he been retained? Similar to his last two seasons (4-7) or would he have had the success Houston Nutt had in the 1998 season?
What would Stan Heath have done if he had been retained to coach the senior class John Pelphrey inherited? Would he have turned the corner, or would the results have mirrored his previous four seasons?
When the Razorbacks top 5 recruiting class arrives next fall, the pieces will be in place to lay a foundation that a good coach can use to establish their program.
Eddie Sutton started his foundation with the Triplets and Nolan Richardson with Day, Miller and Mayberry. Will John Pelphrey do the same with Ky Madden, Aaron Ross and Hunter Mickelson?
Yawn! Just another dump on John blog here… why not take a different approach. How about one that lists what John has accomplished. Surely, you can find a number of things that John has done that would be positive (GolfHog being the exception here, maybe a few others).
Do you even remember how it was when Nolan left? It wasn't very good. Definitely had PLENTY of ISSUES. While I still don't know if John can succeed at Arkansas, I firmly believe that he was given very little chance based upon the situation that he entered into.
Just my thoughts but it would be nice to see folks come up with positives about his time here.
Don't wait on others. I would love to hear your list. Please.
Hey… I'm not the one that is whinning! Not praising either.
Rather suffer in silence? For some, misery loves company.
OK, I'll do it.
2 winning seasons.
4 SEC tournament appearances
2 SEC tournament wins
1 NCAA appearance
1 NCAA win
2 top 20 recruiting classes
8 of 16 scholarships awarded retained.
6 SEC road wins
Thanks for asking. That does make it seem better.
Now remember the 1 NCAA appearance and win was with Stan Heath's recruits.
Just trying to be positive like Owasso asked. His SEC tourney wins were with Health's boys as well.
Are you telling me that the Razorback program was in such shambles after Nolan, that we need a decade to repair it? Please read my Baylor reference again. Arkansas basketball was not in that kind of shape when Nolan was fired.
I did… but when you cycle through 3 coaches during this time, yes, it will take time.
I will sincerely agree with one thing you said. I don't believe John had any chance to succeed here. This was way to big a job for John. It was a very poor choice by whoever made it. His only mistake was saying yes. I hope he banked the cash.
Good to hear from you HogBaller.
I agree with your position that giving Pelphrey another year should remove the excuses. At this point, one year doesn't seem like a long time. If another coach were brought in at the end of this season, we would likely have another long wait while the new coach built his team. Either way patience is the virtue that Hogfans need to cultivate right now, for their own sake.
I'm glad you made the point that Stan Heath got the hook just before his first team matured. Last I checked, Heath was doing very well at South Florida. Broyles had gone around the bend when he created this mess.
After the team performance this year I am so ambivalent I don't care whether they change coaches this year or next. I have no faith in Pelphrey and I can no longer stand to hear him speak about the team. The only bright spot may be that Pelphrey himself is slowly learning how to coach to win, but I'm not holding my breath (pranayama in Sanskrit).
That's the great thing about excuses, you never run out of them. Next year could be incremental progress with freshman. Just imagine what John can do as they mature. The year after may be the first NCAA tournament appearance, just imagine, one more year. By the time we get an NCAA victory these guys will be leaving early, the ones that stayed, and John will need time to rebuild. Some people just love excuses. It is their way of life.
Conversely, the great thing about accepting responsibility is that it is final. The excuses end immediately. You are either responsible for your actions and their consequences or not. It's one of those lessons we try to teach our kids.
But Hey! if this is the product that Long wishes to put on the floor, well, that's why he gets the big money. He must really believe that a National Championship is in Pelphry's future.
Pelphry is a sweet boy and a good role model for young men. Some D-II program should be very proud to have him as their next basketball coach. But, you summed up Arkansas Basketball history very well. Why waste John's time and damage the image of the program further? Arkansas fans took a pretty big hit to get rid of Nutt. Why make it any worse?
But, if they do this, then Pelphry and Long need to come out and call their shot; name a number of victories, a finish in the West, and an NCAA win. Finally be responsible for something besides a never ending number of excuses and a conveniently moving target of lower and lower expectations.
Great article and great reply. I was ready to give in to the "one more year" crowd. One more year would remove all excuses…. or would it. There are always more.
The part of this reply that slammed the door for me was "National Championship". Honestly – Pel is not going to win a NC. We need a coach that can take us to the top. We have a good example in football. Up and coming, spitfire rah rah coaches are great for Ole Miss. We have a state of great fans that want to win Championships. It is a lot to ask, but I believe we can do it again with the right coach.
Isn't this Long's responsibility? Can he do it? Did he just get lucky with Petrino?
So, what you are saying is that ever year most schools must fire their coach since they can't win a championship!
So, no matter what a coach does, if they don't win it all, FIRE THEM!
Really!
I think this is one of the most frequently thoughts about CJP… he can't win… so, fire him. How many NC have we won? Just ONE!!! And we've had talent to do so MULTIPLE TIMES!!! And with MUCH BETTER talent.
So, many of y'all are just going to whine and whine… I don't believe that you'd be satisfied (for long) with Mike Anderson…
Some of y’all need to get REALISTIC EXPECTIONS! I'm not saying that it can't happen but when you think that it is the standard for it to happen every year, you'll never be happy! I'm totally ok with the desire for us to be in a position for a NC but we just aren't likely to be there as quickly as many think. It's all about instant gratifications for many of y’all.
YES, he just got lucky with Petrino. Right person, right situation, right time. It had to be the perfect storm to blow Petrino into the Arkansas job, but give Long credit where credit is due. He recognized and seized opportunity when it presented itself. Also let's give him credit for taking the steps to make sure Petrino stays around. I think we're all pretty much thrilled with that hire.
At least we are on the same page. It is really about realistic expectations. That is why Arkansas basketball history is a good example. Expectations are often based on past experience. Just like our expectations for Pelphry are based on his past experience.
I'll set you a goal for Pelphry to keep his job. Get the second place seed in the SEC. Get two wins in the SEC tournament. Go to the NIT final four. You don't play the 70th best team in America until you get to the NIT final four. After four years, with this team playing its best, well coached, properly motivated, good basketball, those are not unrealistic goals for an above average D-1 coach.
You want to say a winning season with a one point win over a freshman led Kentucky team that can't win a road game and a two point road win over the worst team in the league is somehow progress for this program.
Pure and simple, how low do our standards have to fall for this guy to keep his job??
Owasso, I would argue that your expectations are not high enough.
In my opinion Arkansas Basketball expectations each year should be, at minimum to make the NCAA tourney (even in your down years). For gosh sakes…68 teams make it. As pitiful as the SEC is, it should be a lock to finish in the top 2 in the West every year. Every 2-3 years a sweet 16 should be expected. Every 5-8 years – a final four.
Is that REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS ???
I agree that you have to be a bit lucky to win it all. You can get well in basketball and baseball much faster than you can with football. You can see what good coaching and embracing expectations have done in three short years there.
“A long time ago I was taught that if you have a goal and you can’t verbalize it, then you’ll never achieve it,” Petrino said. “So we talk about it. We want to win a national championship. That’s what our goal is. That’s what drives us.”
http://arkansasnews.com/2011/01/28/blog-what-we-l…
Great points made by Hogballer and Walking On Sunshine. I think what many fans must define is what they consider success. The expectations that you just mentioned are to me very realistic. After all isn't that the realism we had during the Sutton and Richardson era?
In today’s world of college basketball it shouldn't take 4 or 5 years to build a program. With all the AAU teams that play all during the year, with us being in the SEC and not to mention our history we should realistically be able to build a program in 2 years. If it takes you 4 to 5 years to build a program then that means every 4 or 5 years you will have one team that will have success. That is what many college football teams have to do but basketball athletes are much different. Because of their ability to play all during the year most of those that are recruited should be on the court in the first year and dominating the second.
I guess all I'm saying is no matter the past it shouldn't take 5 years to build
Walking, don't confuse my comments as to my level of expectations. I believe that I'm more in line with you… except the final four.
My only fear is for those that expect level now. As for the 68 teams that make it… MANY of them don't deserve to do so which takes away from those that do.
As for CJP, I'd argue that his first year was totally bogus as to how this reflexs upon him (I don't mean this negatively). He just had to let this play out. Year 2… I'm guessing that there was many surprises for him… many things might have been out of his control. And he probably didn't handle a number of things quit the way he wanted or like. I'm not giving him a bye on this but still… year 3 was last year and we just ran out of gas… so, in my mind, this year was probably similar to other coaches 2nd year or early 3rd year.
With this in mind (i.e. throwing out year 1 totally) since he had little impact/input, it doesn't count either way. Year 2, might give a little grace… due to huge turn-over from Year 1. Year 3, some improvement early but huge fall late. Year 4, some more improvement but can't explain easy losses… but the most important fact is that the year is STILL not over yet!!!
Well said.
I don't expect to win the NC every year, but I would like it to be a goal most years.
Also – the "we need to wait on the talent" argument is lame. A good coach can coach. Pelphrey did the best with Stan Heath's players. Players' stats have gone down under Pel. Heck, Casey Dick threw for over 2,500 yards under Petrino – Casey's best year by far. Coaches make the difference. They are the real leader.
The coaches are the ones making MILLIONS of dollars. Coaching 18-20 year olds is tough. It takes a lot of different special skills that very very few people have. That's why the good ones get paid. It is my personal opinion that we could and should find a coach with better coaching skills than Pelphrey. Our program is declining. I believe we need a talented, established coach to right the ship. We are losing more money in attendance and concessions now than it would be to make up the salary for a talented coach.
Just my opinion. Owasso – I do think you are a great hog fan. I am just a little impatient.
see comments above…
Pelphrey coached a Sr. laden team his first season and Casey Dick was a Sr. in Petrino's first season. You can't tell me Sr. experience doesn't make a difference.
If all those guys are Freshmen in Pelphrey and Petrino's first seasons, tell me, what kind of season do they have?
Now that I've said all that, tell me how much experience has Pelphrey had since his first class graduated and Patrick Beverly was caught cheating in class and kicked out of school?
Charlie Sheen must be a hog fan too – because he is all about WINNING!
I'm tired of pretending Hogs are not special.
Gotta love the passion!
I like Pel as a person, and I think he came into a tough situation. But he has just not produced. Fans are not filling the seats and the basketball program is losing money. I think it is time for a change. The other day I saw something that we are pursuing Mike Anderson. While I think that would be a step up for us, I am not sold on him. Are we hoping Mike will be a younger, more motivated-to-recruit version of Nolan Richardson? Because he is a Richardson disciple, do we think he will take us back to the Richardson glory days? While his teams at Missouri have been pretty good, has he ever won that conference? Has he been able to recruit big-time talent? I like Mike . . . . kinda, but I'm just not sure.
Stan Heath is on his way out at South Florida. They want to hire Billy Gillespie.