Dykes back on TV

Jimmy Dykes, Arkansas’ women’s basketball coach the previous three seasons, made a pretty seamless transition back to television work as part of the SEC Network’s media days coverage.

Dykes said this week marked his 14th consecutive year at SEC media days: the first 10 with ESPN, the next three as a coach, and this year back as a television commentator.

“I was on the set for four hours and I felt like it took me about the first hour to get my groove going again,” Dykes said. “But hopefully it’s a little bit like riding a bike or swimming. You’ve done it for so long you still know how to do it, and you’re talking about basketball, which I love.”

Dykes, 54, said he’ll work games as a color analyst for ESPN and the SEC Network and also do studio work for men’s basketball. He’ll call Kentucky’s Blue-White scrimmage tonight on the SEC Network. His first regular-season game will be Nov. 10 when Iowa State plays at Missouri on ESPN.

“I’ve got a great relationship with all the coaches in the league,” Dykes said. “I know they’re very supportive of me coming back. I can’t wait to get started.”

ESPN announced earlier this week that it had re-hired Dykes, but he said there had been a verbal agreement for several months. He said ESPN officials contacted him about resuming his television career shortly after he resigned under pressure as Arkansas’ coach March 3.

Dykes had a 43-49 record as the Razorbacks’ coach, including 2-14 in SEC play last season. After his first team went to the NCAA Tournament and finished 1814, Arkansas was 12-18 and 1317 the next two seasons.

“I still say to this day, it was a great honor to be the head coach at my alma mater for three years,” said Dykes, who was a walk-on at Arkansas. “I wish we would have won more games. We didn’t, but I come out of it a better person. I know that.”

Dykes has made his home in Northwest Arkansas for many years. He lives with his wife, Tiffany, and daughter, Kennedy, in Springdale in the same house he did when he worked for ESPN previously.

“I was talking to [Kentucky Coach] John Calipari about it,” Dykes said. “I said, ‘How many guys do you know work for ESPN, then go into coaching, and they don’t have to move? Then they go from coaching back to ESPN and still don’t have to move.

“That’s me. Same house, same school system, same everything. Nothing’s changed.

“It’s just that now when I go to work instead of turning right to go to Bud Walton Arena, I turn left to go to the airport.”