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What a difference a year makes. It is hard to believe that a coach can completely turn around his program in the span of only 1 year but it happens all the time. Just look at Cuonzo Martin: a losing record in 2020 but a chance at a protected seed in 2021. Even harder is going from “worst to 1st”. 3 decades ago South Alabama coach Ronnie Arrow was coming off of a last-place finish in the Sun Belt…but 12 months later the Jaguars won the league with an 11-3 conference record, then won 3 games in 3 days to clinch a conference tourney title. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Arrow about winning 3 NJCAA titles and beating his in-state rival in the NCAA tourney. Today marks the 30th anniversary of South Alabama wrapping up their conference regular season with a Sun Belt title on February 23, 1991, just 1 year after finishing in a tie for last place.
You were a 2-time All-Conference player at Southwest Texas State in the late 1960s: how good a player were you back in the day? I was 1 of those players that got the ball to the right people as a PG. I was never a great shooter but was a hard-nosed player who played good defense, which is what I later asked of my own teams.
In 10 years as head coach at San Jacinto College you went 302-43, won 3 NJCAA titles in a 4-year span from 1983-1986, and were twice named national COY: what did it mean to you to win all of those titles, and what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? Whenever you have that kind of success you need great players and a great coaching staff. Back then there were at least 8 other teams who had 5-7 high-major players on their roster: we had future NBA players like Alton Lister, Walter Berry, etc. Our players were disciplined enough to fit in anywhere.
Your 1986 team went 37-0 and led the nation in scoring with 101 PPG: how was your team able to stay focused for every single game, and how on earth did your team score so many points? We won about 71 games in a row over the course of back-to-back seasons but never talked about going undefeated. Needless to say, that team was special. They just took care of their business, led by national POY Ledell Eackles, who was a fantastic shooter.
Take me through the 1989 NCAA tourney as head coach at South Alabama:
Jeff Hodge scored a tourney-school record 29 PTS and made a 3-PT shot with 3 seconds left in a 2-PT win over in-state rival Alabama (www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP2aDB6aV0U): did you think Hodge’s shot was going in, and where does that rank among the biggest wins of your career? People around here say it was the biggest win in school history: Alabama never wanted to play us during the regular season. Both teams won their conference titles that year and we were able to chip away at their big lead in the 2nd half. I have a picture of that shot here in my office!
Tourney MOP Glen Rice scored 36 PTS/16-25 FG in a 9-PT in by eventual champion Michigan: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot that Rice put up seemed to go in because he was “in the zone”? I actually re-watched that game about 1 month ago and had not previously realized that Rice shot the ball so well throughout the entire game. Our defenders could not get around the picks set for Rice: he just took over at the end. College basketball became a guard’s game when they put in the 3-PT line: it is important no matter what level of college athletics you are at. Our backcourt, known as “Peanut Butter & Jelly” (Hodge/Junie Lewis), was ranked in the top-5 in the country that year, and adding Gabe Estaba gave us the toughness we needed inside.
In 1991 you were named conference COY after becoming the 1st Sun Belt coach to go from last place to 1st place in just 1 season: how were you able to turn things around so quickly? It was a combination of players and hard work. We were not as talented as that 1989 team but we had more depth.
What are your memories of the 1991 NCAA tourney (Josh Grant had 22 PTS/11 REB in 26 minutes in a 10-PT win by Utah)? We were up by 7 PTS at halftime but took some bad shots in the 2nd half. Coach Rick Majerus always did a good job.
In 1994 you started the season by scoring 156 PTS against Prairie View, then were fired after losing 3 straight games by a combined 128 PTS: what the heck happened!? I was not fired: I resigned. I think the administration wanted us to take more 3-PT shots so they just decided to move in a different direction.
In 1998 you became the 1st basketball coach at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi after the school had gone 25 years without a basketball program: why did you decide to take the job, and what was the biggest challenge in building up a team from scratch? After you get out of coaching you find out really quick if you still want to coach. My good friend Tim Floyd got me in touch with the AD at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and I was fortunate to get the job there. I will always look at that program as my baby: I am proud of seeing it grow and prosper.
In the 2007 NCAA tourney (the 1st in school history) your team got out to a 25-7 lead over #2-seed Wisconsin in the 1st half: how close did you come to pulling off the upset before Kammron Taylor scored all 24 of his PTS in the 2nd half for the Badgers? They just kept chipping away at us and had a very strong team. I thought our athleticism would wear them down but their physicality actually wore us down. Josh Washington was our best 3-PT shooter but he got smacked in the face during the 1st few minutes and did not make a 3-PT shot the entire game. Their maturity/strong schedule/strong conference paid off for them but I was really proud of our guys.
In 2007 you returned for a 2nd go-round at South Alabama: why did you decide to return, and what was the biggest difference between that time vs. your 1st time around? In my 1st year back we went 26-7, which set a record for the most wins in school history. We caught an experienced Butler team in the 1st round: I do not know how they were a #7-seed after getting to the Sweet 16 the previous season! The main reason I came back is because I kept in touch with some people who were still there that had been very good to me and my family. I am very fortunate to have been able to stay around my hometown of Houston so it was not a hard decision to return. I think it is safe to say that I am the only coach who was ever asked to leave and later asked to return.