Powerhouses visit Foley, his Trojans
Joe Foley is a well-known coach.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s women’s basketball coach is a legend around Arkansas, where he’s coached women’s hoops since
1987. In 16 years at
UALR, Foley has built the Trojans into one of the best midmajor programs around.
“People all across the country now know Little
Rock,” Foley said.
His team’s 2018-19 schedule is a byproduct of what Foley’s spent years developing.
“The beauty of what Joe’s been able to do is we’re not just playing these programs and competing, but we’re getting them at home,” UALR Athletic Director Chasse Conque said.
UALR will host No. 20 Texas A&M at 6:30 p.m. today at the Jack Stephens
Center, kicking off what Foley dubbed the “murderer’s row” of UALR’s nonconference schedule.
The Aggies start a daunting four-game (three at home) stretch, including a road trip to LSU on Sunday. No. 6 Mississippi State, Western Kentucky and Kansas State also will visit the Jack Stephens Center from Nov. 28-Dec. 8.
“To be able to play these types of teams and caliber of programs like this in the Jack Stephens Center,” Conque said, “it’s a testament to what he’s built.”
Scheduling multiple games against high-powered programs is not unique for the Trojans, who have appeared in the NCAA Tournament or women’s National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in all but one season since 2007-08.
This year marks UALR’s fourth in a row with four or more games against opponents from the SEC, Pac-12, Big 12, Big Ten or ACC.
UALR has scheduled 19 nonconference games against teams from those conferences since 2014-15.
It’s all by design. “Our teams have gotten good enough that it doesn’t hurt them to play a team like us,” Foley said of his bigger opponents. “We’re in championships, conference championships and win 20 [games].
“Those Power 5 schools, they’re all trying to get homecourt advantage in the NCAA [Tournament]. They’re no longer playing the sisters for the blind or getting 10 [wins] … they’re trying to play schools that’s going to help them get that home-court seed, those top 16 seeds.”
Because of relationships that Foley has spent two decades nurturing, LSU, Mississippi State and Texas A&M have been regulars on UALR’s nonconference schedule.
From 1993-2003, Texas A&M Coach Gary Blair served in the same position at the University of Arkansas. Mississippi State Coach Vic Schaefer was an assistant under
Blair from 1997-2003 and continued working under Blair from 2003-2011 at Texas A&M.
When Blair and Schaefer were at Arkansas, Foley was the head coach at Arkansas Tech University (1987-2003).
“We were in the same circles,” Foley said. “We developed a great relationship, and it’s carried over.”
As Foley remembered, he and Arkansas Tech would compete in Blair’s tournaments at Arkansas. Foley and Blair even would attend each other’s practices as spectators and note-takers.
Building tough schedules boosts UALR’s program in more ways than one, Foley said. Attendance and ticket sales are the obvious two, but building a strong nonconference resume better suits each school eyeing the postseason.
UALR is one of few midmajor schools actively seeking to bring in big schools, Foley said. Playing against big-time opponents helps sell UALR to recruits, too.
“Everybody says, ‘Man, how do you get these schools in here?’ ” Foley said.