A MAN ON AN ISLAND


There are a lot of great settings in college basketball, from Cameron Indoor to Hinkle Fieldhouse. But none may be as unique as the waterfront at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Ronnie Arrow coaches his team -- literally -- on the Gulf of Mexico.

“It’s a great setting,” says Arrow now in his sixth season as head coach. “The arena has an all-glass look and is facing the bay. When we get a recruit here, he may ultimately end up going to a UCLA, but we at least get him thinking seriously about playing here. I would have hated to start up a program without an attraction like playing on an Island.”

Virtually every year a program is granted NCAA division I status and within a few years has affiliated itself with a conference. But most make the jump from division II, III or the NAIA ranks. It’s rare to take the path that Arrow has taken.

When Arrow was named as the Islanders coach in 1998, he had the distinction of being Corpus Christi’s first-ever men’s basketball coach. And his task was to take nothing and turn it into a division I program.

“We had nothing,” laughs Arrow. “There were no pens, pencils, offices or players. But there was a strong commitment and I thought it could work.”

In the fall of ’98, while Duke and others were soaking up the attention of ESPN for midnight madness, the people at Corpus Christi were putting on similar event, but with much less attention, fewer players and even fewer onlookers.

Dressed in a tux, with his two assistants, a couple of team managers and eight fans looking on, Arrow ran midnight madness with three players. Seven years later Arrow’s work has produced a spot in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 and one vote in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA TODAY Top 25.

Before taking the reigns at 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 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, USA 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.

The following season Arrow was once again tabbed coach of the year, after guiding the Jags to the regular season and conference tournament titles. USA finished the season 23-9 and ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press Top 25.

It was a smooth transition from the junior college ranks to division I. From 1977 through 1987, Arrow compiled an impressive 302-43 record at San Jacinto JC. During his tenure, the Ravens won ten TJCAC titles and three national championships (1983, 84, 86).

“The secret is getting talented kids that can plays,” laughs Arrow. “Coaching is coaching. You just have to work hard, wherever you are coaching and get talented kids.”

Few were surprised with Arrow’s success at South Alabama, but more than a few eyebrows were raised when he opted to build the Corpus Christi program from the ground -- or in this case -- from the shoreline up.

“If anyone could do it was Ronnie,” says former assistant and current North Alabama head coach Bobby Champagne. “Ronnie lives, eats and sleeps basketball. He’s one of those guys that can really coach that nobody ever talks about.”

Arrow’s Islanders have gotten a few headlines in recent years with wins over Texas Tech and Texas A&M, as well as 2004 NCAA Tournament-qualifier Murray State. But casual observers may have dismissed such wins as flukes. Those same people can’t argue with the early success of this season.

The Islanders entered the first week of December with just one loss (vs. Kent State on Nov. 24) and wins over Baylor, Florida State, TCU and Old Dominion. But Arrow shrugs off the idea of it being about his coaching.

“When you have five seniors you should be pretty good,” he says. “This has been a culmination of the guys who came here on a hope and a prayer. These guys have been through a lot and now it’s all coming together for them on the court.”

Arrow laughs at the stories of Champagne and other former assistants saying, “they speak with a fork tongue,” but there is no denying that he doesn’t find time for much else other than basketball. By his own admission, he has only been out fishing with boosters three times in the last six years. According to Arrow there is little time for anything else.

If he has an active hobby it’s his wife, Nelda, and their daughter Ailey who is a freshman at the University of Alabama. Beyond that it’s his players.

To date, 10-of-15 players have graduated from Corpus Christi and all five seniors are on schedule to get their degrees. Wins are nice, but the real satisfaction for Arrow is seeing his players and former assistants go onto to have success after leaving the program.

“You can’t win without talented players and great assistant coaches,” says Arrow. “Not only are they all good at what they do, but they are committed. I don’t think a lot of people really understand what goes into being an assistant coach and what the demands of being a student athlete are. Those are the people that deserve the real credit.”

Whoever deserves the credit the fact remains that Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is clearly one of the early feel-good stories of the 2004-05 college basketball season. A ticket to the NCAA or NIT would make for a true Cinderella story, given the programs inauspicious beginnings.

However the story ends in March one thing is for sure, there will be more than just eight loyal fans watching it unfold.