HOT SPRINGS — Big Nasty wasn’t kidding when he said he’d be hitting the ground running Friday afternoon as the newly-hired coach at Central Arkansas.

Corliss Williamson, the Russellville native who led Arkansas to a national championship in 1994, hopped in his car and drove from Conway to Hot Springs to watch the Class 7A high school state championship game between Fayetteville and Conway on Friday night.

As a note to our readers, I’ve been in Hot Springs this week covering, shooting and blogging the state championship games and had the chance to speak with Williamson for a few minutes Friday night courtside at Summit Arena.

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Williamson was sitting down and, perhaps, relaxing for the first time this week. He’d been through two interviews with UCA Athletic Director Brad Teague before his hiring and had just passed his NCAA Recruiting test, missing only one of the 40 questions. He was also less than five hours removed from a press conference introducing him as the coach at Central Arkansas, where he hopes to take a newly-sanctioned Division I school to the top of the mid-major pile in the Southland Conference.

“It’s been a whirlwind day and my head’s spinning a little bit,” Williamson said, “but I’d rather be like this than be home and not have this opportunity.”

Williamson, who coached at Arkansas Baptist for three years, was literally seated in the center front row for the Class 7A championship and was obviously shaking plenty of hands and receiving congratulations from passersby. Williamson smiled for most of the night, even while knowing he has plenty of work to do in the coming days.

The first thing on his agenda is simple — he needs to assemble a coaching staff. And don’t be surprised if one of his top assistants is former Razorback teammate Scotty Thurman.

“Of course Scotty and I have talked about becoming coaches together years ago, so he’s one person I’m going to talk to but I have a few other people I want to interview and talk to them and see what direction we want to go,” Williamson said. “I just want to make sure that whoever I choose is down for our cause and in it for the long run.”

And, yes, the Bears will run an uptempo style in Conway. Williamson, who thrived in Nolan Richardson’s “40 Minutes of Hell” as a Razorback, would have it no other way, in fact. “We’re going to pick up full court and we’re going to have an exciting brand of basketball,” he stressed. “It’s fun for our players to play, but it’s also exciting for the fans to watch and enjoy.”

The Bears will be looking to schedule big-time programs as part of its non-conference season, Williamson said. The school played Kentucky in 2007 and also traveled to Kansas this season. Both were losses and I jokingly asked Big Nasty if he would schedule the Wildcats any time soon, considering the roots he has playing against Big Blue as a Razorback in the 1990s.

He chuckled, of course.

“Yeah, we’re not going to back down from anyone,” he said. “We’re going to fix our schedule and play who we need to play. We may play some big name schools. We’ll just have to worry about that when we get a chance to get the scheduling done.

“That’s another part of the coaching part I have to learn and get adjusted to.”

Williamson was very thankful for the opportunity at UCA, where he agreed to a three-year deal worth $109,000 a a season. After all, Williamson was only the head coach at Arkansas Baptist, a junior college program, for one season. He was an assistant there during his first two years. Adjustments, as he said, will need to be made and there’s learning to be done. That’s why, for example, Big Nasty has been unable to attend any Razorback games.

Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey is known for bringing legendary Razorbacks in as guest speakers and special coaches during scrimmages. Pelphrey, a legend himself at Kentucky as a member of the “Unforgettables,” has always appreciated the tradition at Arkansas. Williamson, though, has been unable to join in because of his recent duties as a coach at the junior college and, for the last two days, on the Division I level.

“I’ve been there, I’ve always supported them,” Williamson said, before changing his tone. “That’s my school and fortunately right now I’m at UCA and that’s where my allegiance lie right now.”

Even so, Williamson has and always will keep his eye on the Razorbacks, who just finished their second consecutive losing season (14-18) with a six-game losing streak.

“They kind of struggled this year and went through a low point, then Courtney (Fortson) came back and they were able to pick it up. Unfortunately, they just didn’t finish the season off well,” Williamson said. “I know Coach Pelphrey is going to hit the bushes and try to get his team together. I think he’s got a few recruits coming in next year, so I look for them to try and make a run and improve, especially if they start the season off with everyone on board.”

For now, Williamson’s attention is at the gym, where he hopes to spend plenty of time watching and critiquing potential Bears at UCA.

“I love basketball,” he said. “My wife will tell you that I love being in the gym watching basketball. It’s something I’m going to enjoy. I’m looking forward to the challenges.”

Williamson paused and smiled.

“I’m ready to get going.”

Make sure to check out WholeHogSports.com and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more coverage. You can also follow us on Twitter for breaking news updates with @bmarcello and @wholehogsports.

— Brandon Marcello