ARROW RESIGNS,
TAKES POSITION AT
SOUTH ALABAMA
Ronnie Arrow, who
has been the only men's basketball coach at Texas A&M-Corpus
Christi has taken the head coaching job at South Alabama.
Arrow started the
program in 1997 from scratch and during that time has guided the
Islanders to an overall record of 134-91 that included
three-straight 20-win seasons. Most recently, Arrow guided the
Islanders to a 26-7 record as well as the Southland Conference
regular season title before going on to win the SLC Tournament in
the school's first year in the league. They went on to face Wisconsin as a
No. 15 seed where they lead the No. 2 Badgers for most of the game
before falling 76-63.
The Houston, Texas
native was named the Southland Conference Coach of the Year as the
Islanders set a school record for wins this past season with 26 and
over the past three seasons he has led the Islanders to an 86-23
mark (.789). He recorded
another first for the program this season as his Islanders received
votes in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for three-straight
weeks.
The 2006-07 season
also saw the Islanders win a school-record 10-straight games that
was the second-longest in the country at the time. This past season also saw the
Islanders win on regional television for the first time in school
history with a 91-72 win over Texas-Arlington on Fox SportsNet in
the American Bank Center.
Since the 1999-2000 season, Arrow led the Islanders to an 87-21
home record.
Prior to entering
the Southland Conference, Arrow was named the Independent Coach of
the Year in 2000 and again in 2005 as well as the Sun Belt Coach of
the Year in 1989 and 1991 while coaching South Alabama.
During the 2004-05
season his Islanders got immediate attention when they took down
Florida State, 70-67 on the Seminoles home court on Nov. 22, 2004,
then followed that up with an upset win over Old Dominion, handing
the Monarchs one of their five losses in the regular season.
Over the last
seven years, Arrow has guided his team to wins over programs such
as Texas Tech and Texas A&M, as well as 2004 NCAA
Tournament-qualifier Murray State. In his
third year with the program, guiding one of the most inexperienced
squads to date, Arrow guided the Islanders to four-consecutive wins
at the end of the season and posted a 12-15 mark. TAMUCC topped the 90-point barrier on
five occasions, including two games of over 100 points.
During the 2000-2001 campaign, Arrow's Islanders
notched a 14-14 record, which included an 86-80 victory over Big
12-foe, Texas Tech in Lubbock. Under his direction, the Islanders
eclipsed the 100-point barrier six times en route to an 85.5-point
per game average, which would have ranked third in the country if
not for TAMUCC's "provisional" status. Michael Hicks finished off his
brilliant two-year career by posting 26.7 points per contest, which
would have ranked second among all NCAA Division I scorers. He gained all-region honors
following the season.
Arrow guided A&M-Corpus Christi to an impressive
13-13 mark in year one of the project. The Islanders, winners of
five-consecutive games to close the season, turned some heads early
with their 76-74 upset of 2000 NCAA-Tournament qualifier, Samford
in the first round of the Holiday Tribune Classic. A&M-Corpus Christi even took its'
cracks at "Goliath" as well. In the finals of the Holiday Tribune
Classic, the Islanders were tied 34-34 with Iowa State, the
eventual champion of the Big 12 Conference and a team that advanced
to the "Elite Eight".
Before coming to
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Arrow knew all about rising from the
ashes. At the end of the
1990-91 season, he was named the Sun Belt Conference
Coach-of-the-Year for the second time after engineering the most
dramatic turnaround in league history.
That year, his
University of South Alabama Jaguars became the first Sun Belt squad
ever to leap from last to first place in a single season. Picked to finish fifth in the
conference, South Alabama went on to capture the league crown with
an 11-3 mark.
The Jags, who
finished the season with a 22-9 record, swept through the Sun Belt
Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament before falling to
the University of Utah in a first-round tilt.
Arrow was also
named the league's Coach-of-the-Year following the 1988-89 season
after guiding the Jaguars to Sun Belt regular-season and postseason
tournament titles. South Alabama finished the season with a 23-9
mark, a first round NCAA Tournament victory over cross-state rival
Alabama before falling
91-82 to the eventual national champion Michigan in the second
round.
The Jags finished
the season ranked 24th in the country. He posted a 114-93 record
with the Jaguars in seven seasons.
In the summer of
1989, Arrow also coached the United States Junior World Cup Team to
the gold medal in Uruguay.
Among his players include NBA stars Grant Hill, Calbert Cheaney and
Allan Houston.
Over the years,
Arrow developed a reputation in the collegiate basketball circles
for up-tempo, high-scoring teams. His squads led the Sun Belt Conference
in scoring four of his seven seasons at South Alabama.
His 1988-89 squad
set a school and league record 91 points per game average and five
of his seven teams tallied at least 80 points per game.
Prior to South
Alabama, Arrow served as head coach at San Jacinto Junior College
from 1977-87. He tallied an
impressive 302-43 record and guided the Ravens to 10 TJCAC titles
as well as NJCAA championships in 1983, 1984 and 1986. He was tabbed the NJCAA Region XIV
Coach-of-the-Year in 1983,'84,'86,'87 and the national
Coach-of-the-Year in 1983 and 1986. His 1985-86 squad led the nation in
scoring, averaging 101 points per game.
