Ronnie Arrow --head Coach At Tamu-cc

[SUMG]

This guy started the program at TAMU-CC, and was 108-84 in his first seven years. That's starting a program from the GROUND UP. And he had to play those first seven years, as an independent. This year, his team's first in the Southland....he has them 15-4, and 6-0 in league play. He has two big games this week...SHSU and SFA. Anyway, Arrow has coached in the Belt before...taking S Bama to the NCAA Tourney. And plus....I think he's applied for the NT job before.

Here's his bio (going into this season):

Ronnie Arrow, who started the program from the ground up nine years ago, has garnered many accolades in his 25 years as a collegiate head coach. He added another last year as he won his 100th game as the Islander leader against Northern Colorado on Jan. 16, 2006.

In his seven season as the head coach of the Islander men's basketball program, Arrow has compiled an impressive 108-84 record, compiled three Independent Coach of the Year honors and posted the best record among indenependents the past two seasons.

Since his time on the Island, Arrow has accomplished many feats that some thought were impossible when he started the program in 1998. He has recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons the past two years, establishing a mark of 40-16 during that span.

Arrow has been even tougher at home, compiling a record of 74-20 (.787), including a 27-3 mark in the American Bank Center.

Last year, the Islanders defeated South Florida of the Big East as well as downing TCU of the Mountain West Conference for the second-straight season. A&M-Corpus Christi fell one point short of Big 12 Conference- member Missouri on its home court and fell in double overtime to Conference USA-member Houston.

Going into the 2006-07, his Islanders will be riding a five-game win streak that dates back to Feb. 11, 2006 when the Islanders defeated Utah Valley State at home. A&M-Corpus Christi ended the season with a 93-69 thumping of rival Texas-Pan American on Circle K Court in the American Bank Center.

Arrow put Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on the national map two years ago as it was ranked in the top-25 Mid-Major Poll nearly the entire season last year and even received votes in the ESPN/USA Today Top-25 Coaches Poll 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.

The Houston native led the Islanders to their longest win streak in school history at seven as well as losing back-to-back games only once.

Over the last six 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.

When Arrow was named the man in charge of building and molding the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program from ground zero and turn it into a competitive NCAA Division I program in July, 1998, people were left wondering. Not about the hiring of a former two-time Sun Belt Coach of the Year, but why Arrow would want to go through the daunting task of building a program from scratch in this day and age of collegiate athletics. Judging from the fortunes of his first five seasons, Arrow can laugh at all of his doubters.

Three seasons ago, he guided the Islanders to a four-game winning streak, starting with a 80-68 drumming of Murray State. The Islanders finished the season by winning six of their last nine games.

He guided TAMUCC to three 90-point games, all resulting in victories, as well as nine 80-point outputs.

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".

Despite dropping an 86-64 decision to the Cyclones, the Islanders gained respect throughout the country. Under the tutelage of Arrow, Hicks prospered, averaging 22.2 points, 9.2 rebounds per game en route to being tabbed the Independent Player-of-the-Year. Arrow was named the Independent Coach-of-the-Year.

Before coming to Texas A&M-Corpus Chrsiti, 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.

In junior college, Arrow coached several players who went onto enjoy careers in the NBA: Walter Berry, Alton Lister, Ladell Eackles and Larry Spriggs.

Arrow was a two-year All-Lone Star Conference honoree and a three-year letterman at Southwest Texas State. After graduating from SWT (now Texas State) with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education in 1969, his coaching career got starting as he served three years as a graduate assistant coach at Sam Houston State.

He moved on to coach Pasadena High School in the 1972-73 season, a year that Arrow captured the District 23-4A Coach-of-the-Year honors.

Arrow and his wife, Nelda, have a daughter, Ailey.

Edited January 30, 2007 by SUMG

[CMJ]

Definitely someone to keep an eye on should we part ways with JJ in a month.

[MeanGreen61]

Word is that Arrow is very happy in CC and at TAMUCC. With no football, his program is the big dog and gets the most attention of Islander sports.

Edited January 30, 2007 by MeanGreen61

[Green Mean]

Wow this guys seems to be a total basketball guy that makes his players in believing they could win. I'm more impressed with the fact that he's had wins against big conference schools...considering this program was started from the ground up. If for some reason JJ does not work out then I would love to see him in here and he could potentially make this NT a regional and perhaps a national power(top 25-50) in basketball.

[Green Mean]

Word is that Arrow is very happy in CC and at TAMUCC. With no football, his program is the big dog of Islander sports.

I'm sure thats the case but I am assuming he would get paid more, and be able to recruit better since he's in the same state but a better conference. I would highly doubt he would want to turn down NT to stay at TAMU-CC. Even for his future NT would be the better route....wouldnt it?

[NT80]

Another coach for your consideration.....

http://www.midland.edu/athletics/basketbal...t_mccasland.php

[MeanGreen61]

I'm sure thats the case but I am assuming he would get paid more, and be able to recruit better since he's in the same state but a better conference. I would highly doubt he would want to turn down NT to stay at TAMU-CC. Even for his future NT would be the better route....wouldnt it?

Take off the green tinted glasses then ask yourself WHY he'd want to come to NT vs staying at TAMU-CC? Why is NT necessarily a better route ?

Edited January 30, 2007 by MeanGreen61

[SUMG]

Take off the green tinted glasses then ask yourself WHY he'd want to come to NT vs staying at TAMU-CC? Why is NT necessarily a better route ?

Hey, I love Corpus Christi....so I can understand the allure.

And, of course all of this is just speculation, as Coach JJ is still our coach.

As to why Coach Arrow might consider UNT:

1) It is a small step up the food chain (college basketball). The Belt is considered a better b-ball conference than the SLC.

2) Believe it or not, I've talked to basketball coaches....a lot of them prefer for their school to have football. Having football is another enticement to get recruits (as many b-ball players want to go to a school that has football...for one thing).

3) I think Coach Arrow could get disillusioned if TAMU-CC doesn't start drawing bigger crowds. For their last conference home game, they drew 3,000. Not knocking that....but they have had back to back 20 win seasons. I'll be very interested in seeing what they draw for their SHSU game this week (which is, I think in Corpus). And, of course, we aren't drawing any better...but he might think we have more potential to draw good crowds, if things don't pick up down there. (attendance wise).

Anyway, like I said all purely speculation. But, I do think there are some great coaches in the SLC.....who would make great candidates for our job (Marlin at SHSU; McConathy at NW La. State; and Arrow). And, all they can do...if offered the chance is say "No"....

Plus....don't underestimate Gretchen.....

sumg

[GreenBat]

I recommended this guy almost a month ago

http://www.gomeangreen.com/forums/index.ph...31779&st=15

[MeanGreenBuzz]

Can we wait to see what JJ does this season before we pick his replacement? This kind of thread needs to wait for the offseason after a coach has been fired or when it is certain he/she will be, which for JJ it is not. Maybe start one to pick Slinkers replacement.

Edited January 30, 2007 by MeanGreenBuzz

[FirefightnRick]

Terry Waldrop won a national championship last year here in Fort Worth.

http://www.txwes.edu/athletics/m-basketball/coaches.htm

Rick

Edited January 31, 2007 by FirefightnRick