FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long cited the “student-athlete experience” as a chief reason he made the decision to change leadership in the Razorbacks’ basketball program.
Long fired John Pelphrey following an end-of-season review Sunday, ending the coach’s four-year tenure at the school. After missing out on the NCAA Tournament, Arkansas was denied a bid in the National Invitation Tournament Sunday night, leaving the Razorbacks without a postseason appearance for the third consecutive season.
“To me, it all begins with our student-athletes, and part of their experience is winning basketball games,” Long said. “That’s not the only thing…but it’s playing, competing, being a teammate and working within the program. It’s about discipline and accountability. All those things go into the student-athlete experience. Certainly winning is part of that, and it’s an important part.
“I’m disappointed we’re not in the NCAA Tournament. Our student-athletes are disappointed. That’s where we expect to be, and that’s where we’re going to be.”
Arkansas finished 18-13 this season and was just 46-47 over the past three years. Junior guard Jeff Peterson, who just completed his first season of eligibility, said the mounting losses were difficult.
“On the court, I think every player’s dream is to get to the NCAA Tournament,” said Peterson, who transferred from Iowa two years ago. “Not only to get there, but obviously to compete. I think Mr. Long, he knows where this program can be, where it’s been in the past. He’s just trying to re-install that tradition of getting to the NCAA Tournament.”
In addition to losing games, Long noted declining attendance as another factor. Arkansas only sold an average of 12,022 tickets per game last season, though the actual attendances were often much smaller at the 19,200-seat Bud Walton Arena.
“I will tell you, it was not the overriding (factor),” Long said. “If I believed that we had a coach that would continue to build our program and get us to that level, I would not have arrived at that decision solely based on empty seats at Bud Walton Arena. We focused on what we felt was best for the student-athletes and who we felt could lead our program to the level we want to be at.”
The search for Arkansas’ 13th head coach will begin immediately, Long said. The athletics director said he would conduct the search himself with the aid of other administrators. No search committee will be used, Long said, though he won’t be opposed to using a search firm if the need arose.
Several names are on the wish lists for Arkansas fans, and Long said he has one of his own, but didn’t give any names. This will be Long’s first basketball head coaching search since he hired Travis Ford at Eastern Kentucky in 2000.
“I would say the majority of athletic directors I know have a short list of candidates they could see as the leader of their basketball program, and I’m no different than those,” Long said. “There will also be candidates that present themselves to us that maybe weren’t on that list, but maybe because of their track record and what they’ve done, they’ve come onto that list. I certainly have some people in my mind I think could be a great fit for us, but that process is just beginning.”
Long said he believes the job is more attractive than when Pelphrey accepted the position in 2007. That high-profile coaching search landed Dana Altman, who left Arkansas after less than one day on the job. Several other candidates turned down the job before Pelphrey was hired from South Alabama.
Long credited Pelphrey with helping build a more solid foundation for the program.
“We’ve created a program that can support the young men we bring in,” Long said. “Maybe some of those things weren’t here four years ago when we were attracting a new head coach. We have some of those things in place and when a new coach comes in and reviews our program, they’ll see a lot of positive things surrounding our program, and I think they’ll see they’ll have a better chance to be successful given all the things we’ve put in place at this time.”
Pelphrey didn’t return messages seeking comment Sunday, but his family did give a statement to KNWA, a Fayetteville-based ABC affiliate.
“We’ve enjoyed every minute we’ve been here,” the family said. “We’ll stay strong.”
Pelphrey met with team members Sunday afternoon to notify them of the decision. Arkansas forward Michael Sanchez described the meeting as emotional.
“To see a coach that I’ve grown with and built a relationship with go, it was kind of hard,” Sanchez said. “But like we’ve talked about, we know Mr. Long is going to make the best decision. We can only just be patient and know that good is coming.”
VIDEO: Jeff Long Addresses Pelphrey Firing
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Adios Pel. Thanks and good luck.
Thank-you Jeff Long for having the integrity to look at ALL aspects of this decision and for ultimately putting the student athletes at the top of the priorities list. Now honor them further by recruiting and hiring a someone of the same caliber as CBP.
Not sure who Long will hire but we’re done with the lightweights we’ve endured since Nolan got fed up with Broyle and his cronies. If the program hires a seasoned coach with a demonstrated record of success as both coach and mentor, we’ll be able to keep the 2011 recruiting class intact and reap the benefits of Pel’s outstanding recruiting efforts.
Jeff Long knows what’s at stake for the program and he clearly has the kahones to make the hard decisions required of an AD. IMHO he’ll find a replacement for Coach Pelphrey that’ll have us in the NCAA Tournament next year and back in the Final Four by the time our incoming freshmen graduate. Exciting days ahead for the BB program… thanks again Jeff!
GO HOGS!
I wish coach Pel the best. He is a class act and I’m sure he will land on his feet. Now . . . who do we want as the next coach?
Mike Anderson: Has he won his conference? Will he be more like the vintage Nolan Richardson that was winning, or the Nolan that had .500 teams?
Doc Sadler: Isn’t his record at Nebraska about what ours is this year?
Billie Gillispie: He has been a winner, but his style of play is not up-tempo. Will the fans like it? Will the up-tempo players recruited next year stay if he is selected?
I’m not convinced that Mike Anderson is the answer. I’m also very leery of hiring someone with the personal demons that Gillespie has fought with. And I’m very doubtful that Bill Self would leave Kansas this year when he wouldn’t leave 4 years ago. I’m hopeful that since Long isn’t a long-time Arkansan that it will actually work to our advantage and have him thinking of candidates outside the narrow focus that we long-time fans have had on Anderson. This has to be a great hire, and I sure hope Long makes the right choice.
Why Bill Self’s name is repeatedly brought up as a possible Pel-replacement is beyond me. Kansas is (and has been for some time) a premier team in NCAA basketball. It has far more tradition and prestige than our beloved U of A and I’m sure their coach is paid quite decently. Self isn’t leaving Kansas for anything less than the Duke/UNC/UConn’s of the world and I’m not even sure he would do that.
Anderson & Gillespie are probably realistic candidates, but I don’t know that they make us any better than Pel did. I’d much rather go for an up-and-coming mid-major coach that has the potential to be the next Knight/Wooden/Krzyzewski than a coach who has already proven he’ll top out at 22 wins per year.
Seems to me that we have a real AD. He has been hitting home runs since replacing Broyles. He has incredible grasp of the program already; so he listen to his insiders very well. I am going to enjoy my vacation and I am ready to get behind the new coach. I got a feeling it is going to be another homerun. It is time to play ball.
To Coach Pelphrey,
Thanks for all you have done. I wish nothing but the best for you and your family. It did not happen here; and while I have been one to push for change, it has nothing to do with you personally. We all have up and downs in our careers and you will re-establish and you will be better for it. Good luck
WPS!!!
I really don’t understand people saying that Anderson is no better than Pelphrey. If you don’t like Anderson then so be it but has he not taken Missouri to the Elite 8 when they weren’t relevant before he got there. Did he not take UAB to the Sweet 16 in a short period of time? He is again in the tournament this year while we can’t get an invite to the NIT. Whether he is the man for the job at Arkansas or not he is a better coach than Pelphrey at this point. Reading some past comments it seems that there are personal issues in terms of the reasons for not wanting Anderson. He hasn’t done anything to Arkansas in a negative way and has always had nice things to say.
Just to clarify my position, I’m not saying Anderson is at or below Pelphrey’s level in ability, I’m just not convinced he is the best coach available to us. Just because he was an assistant during the Hogs glory days doesn’t automatically mean he could duplicate the success Nolan had. I have nothing personal against Anderson, either. This coaching search cannot be personal at all. It has to be about getting the absolute best coach possible. I don’t think it will be anything personal from the fans toward Anderson that keeps him from coming; I think it’s more likely that Anderson could have a personal grudge against the University for brushing him aside 10 years ago. I don’t really care about any of that; I just want us to hire the absolute best coach we can possibly get because we can’t afford another 4 years of trying to realize coaching “potential.”
Good luck, Coach Pel. Given what you walked into, I think you did a good job. This is a business measured by wins though, and you just came up a little short. I’m confident you’ll land on your feet, as all (Wild)cats do.
I must say that I’m much more confident about this coaching search with JLong in charge. We just need to have some realistic expectations and realize that he will bring in the best coach he can find to take the job. We had some big names tell him “No thanks” on the football job before he landed CBP, so let’s be patient and let him work through the process.
I wasn’t referring to you wyohog. I was talking about multiple blogs not just on this site. There have been unjust criticism towards Anderson and from the way things are being said about him it seems it is due to the fact that he is black or because of his ties to Nolan. There have been statements made on arkansassports360, nwa sports, etc. causing some fans besides me to question the motives behind some of these statements. We just need the right coach black or white but firing Pel was not a mistake. Nice man but not a great coach or at least no signs of him becoming one. For those that are worried about the recruits I say that having them would be great but to have a good coach that provides stability through wins on and off the court on an annual basis is better than 1 great class every four years that may or may not stay together that long. Get the right coach and the rest will take care of itself.
Haven’t settled on names yet but these are some of my criteria:
1. Must be a coach in the truest sense. A creator of outstanding, coherent, high achieving, successful D-1 BB teams composed student athletes whose character is a reflection of the same high standards.
2. Must be absolutely committed to:
– Returning this program to a level that matches or exceeds that
of our best years under Eddie and Nolan.
– Elevating the graduation rate and academic achievement levels
of the program.
– Returning to the energy of 40 Minutes of Hell and so that
“home-court advantage” means something at Barnhill once again.
– Taking us back to the big dance… soon.
– Recruiting hard and effectively both regionally and nationally
based on the stature of the coach himself and the program’s
steadily improving W-L records.
– Restoring off-court discipline to team with a zero-tolerance
policy going forward.
No doubt there are others but that’ll do for gleaning the initial candidate pool.
WPS!
Another criteria to add in a coaching search. They must understand how crucial Memphis is to recruiting and recruit hard there. Nolan knew and that is where he got a lot of his good/great players. There is too much talent in Memphis for Arkansas not to grab at least one player a year.