Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas isn’t getting ahead of itself
FAYETTEVILLE — Fortunately for Coach Tom Collen, his Arkansas women’s basketball team won’t look ahead to playing Gary Blair’s Texas A&M Aggies nearly as quickly as Arkansas’ fans. Before the sixth-seeded Razorbacks ( 23- 8) can presumably play against the former Arkansas coach and his third- seeded Aggies in Monday’s second round of the NCAA Tournament, Arkansas must first defeat the 11th- seeded Dayton Flyers (226) on Saturday in the opening round at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas.
A& M, the reigning national champion and ranked No. 14 nationally, faces 14th-seeded Albany in Saturday’s other first round game.
Monday’s winner advances to the Raleigh (N.C) Regional.
Given their home court and annual tournament experience, the Aggies can afford to peek ahead to Monday considerably more than Arkansas can. Arkansas’ women haven’t played in the NCAA Tournament since Blair last led them there in 2003, during his 10th season as Arkansas’ coach.
These Razorbacks can’t look past anybody and won’t, Collen asserts, despite Blair’s history at Arkansas and the fact A&M will join the Razorbacks in the SEC during the 2012-2013 academic year.
As Blair’s longtime friend and former Arkansas assistant, Collen shares a history with A&M’S coach. His players don’t.
“They don’t know who Coach Blair is” Collen said. “They know he coached here, but it’s the furthest thing from their minds. They are well aware that Texas A&M won the national championship, but I don’t think it would have anything to do in their minds that Coach Blair was at Arkansas or Texas A&M is coming to the SEC. Kids just don’t think that way anymore.”
Their fans, however, have talked about little else but Gary Blair since the UA’S women’s athletic administration and former chancellor didn’t attempt to prevent Blair from reluctantly departing for A&M. The UA compounded its mistake by hiring overmatched Susie Gardner from Austin Peay to replace Blair.
Gardner was fine with X’s and O’s, but she was as shy as Blair is gregarious. Her inability to relate immediately hurt a fan base accustomed to their coach pitching the program to its boosters and recruits like P.T. Barnum ballyhooing the circus.
Collen, who had recruited through 1996-97 while building Blair’s 1998 Final Four team, embarked in 1997-98 on his ultra-successful head coaching odyssey at Colorado State and Louisville.
Bev Lewis, the Arkansas women’s athletic director at the time, wisely replaced Gardner with Collen in 2007.
It’s taken awhile because the cupboard was so bare, but in his own quiet way Collen started building with then- freshmen C’eira Ricketts, Lyndsay Harris and Ashley Daniels, who have developed into standout players as seniors.
Last year’s 22-12 team didn’t get the credit it deserved because it just missed the NCAA Tournament, Collen said.
This year the Razorbacks overcame an 0-4 SEC start for a schoolrecord 10-6 SEC finish. That earned their coach recognition as the SEC Coach of the Year.
They also earned an NCAA Tournament ticket and ridded themselves of the ghost of Arkansas’ past, which haunted them more than the ghost of a former Arkansas coach they didn’t even know.