Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Tim Floyd, the current Texas-El Paso basketball coach who would have taken the Arkansas job in 2002 had it been offered without the very public interview process before a chancellor’s search committee, believes John Pelphrey’s program is about to turn the corner.

The timing with available talent hasn’t been in Pelphrey’s favor, Floyd implied, but it turned Arkansas’ way with the current crop of in-state high school seniors. The top three in Arkansas, who are among the top 100 players in the country, all signed with the Hogs in November, and Pelphrey and staff added two out-of-state stars to have a haul ranked as high as No. 3 among national recruiting services.

Floyd knew all about the players because UTEP was among the many schools looking from the outside in on them.

Whatever has happened since 2002 with Arkansas’ program, and a coaching change in the middle of it, is something Floyd says he can’t judge from afar, but he’s certain Arkansas fans will see good days ahead.

“All I know is that John is right on target right now with this recruiting class that he’s got coming in,” Floyd said Monday in North Little Rock where he addressed the Downtown Tip Off Club. “That’s how you do it, and this is a recruiting class like they used to have years ago.

“It’s all about players. John can coach, he can really coach. And now, they’ve got a great class coming in and this is what he needed. It takes time to get entrenched and sometimes it’s about what’s available to you. It just so happens Arkansas this year was loaded with talent, and he was able to go outside to places like Dallas and get Devonta Abron. I just think they’re doing a great job.”

Abron is a 6-foot-8 player from Seagoville, Texas, whose stock soared in the summer. The Hogs also landed highly coveted shooting guard B.J. Young from St. Louis; Young has relatives in Arkansas.

In state, the household names for the past three seasons have been Little Rock Parkview’s Aaron Ross, 6-7; Jonesboro Westside’s Hunter Mickelson, 6-10, and East Poinsett County point guard Rashad “Ky” Madden, 6-4.

“I think people need to understand that when he got there it wasn’t full and now he’s getting the kind of classes that he put together for Billy [Donovan] down at Florida," Floyd said. “And that’s still what it’s all about.”

Floyd had one of the nation’s best recruiting classes coming in at Southern Cal before his career was temporarily torpedoed with revelations he had loaned $1,000 to a friend of former USC superstar O.J. Mayo, who is now with the Memphis Grizzlies. With USC’s football program already under the microscope for problems with agents and handlers concerning star Reggie Bush and his family, USC’s administration let Floyd go.

But Floyd had coached at UTEP under Don Haskins two decades ago, and when Tony Barbee left the Miners for the Auburn job last year, UTEP brought in Floyd. The Miners, who won the Conference USA over Memphis last year, are 15-4 this season and 2-1 in the conference.

“We kinda had it going,” he said of his last days at Southern Cal and the talent that was coming in, including Renardo Sidney, who is now playing at Mississippi State. “Now we’ve got to get it going at UTEP.”