|
 In
just two seasons as head coach of the Trojans, Steve
Shields has already racked up back-to-back Sun Belt
Conference East Division titles and the 2004 Sun
Belt Coach-of-the-Year award.
Last season, the Trojans rallied from a 4-4
conference mark to win their final six Sun Belt
games and secure their second-straight east division
title. UALR finished the year with an 18-10 record
and a final RPI rank of 64, the second-highest mark
in school history.
The 2004-05 Trojans swept Sun Belt-opponent Western
Kentucky for the first time since the 1997-98
season, and scored a significant non-conference win
over Southern Illinois on Dec. 7, 2004. SIU went on
to earn a No. 7 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament
and advanced to the second round.
UALR’s success last season translated into more
television coverage, as the Trojans made eight TV
appearances, including playing in the prestigious
ESPN Bracket Buster against Bowling Green.
A big part of Shields’ success over his first two
years can be attributed to his team’s unwillingness
to lose at home. Over the past two seasons, the
Trojans enjoyed an astounding .893 winning
percentage at Alltel Arena (25-3), something they
hope will carry over to the Jack Stephens Center in
2005-06.
In Shields’ first season at UALR, the Trojans put
together a 17-12 record and advanced to the
semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament after
capturing his first east division title.
The accomplishments of Shields and his staff were
made even more impressive by the fact that the
Trojans did not have any starters back from the
previous year’s squad. At season’s end, Shields was
named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year, making him the
first coach so honored in his first year leading a
Division-I program.
Prior to taking over as head coach of the Trojans,
Shields spent three years as the top assistant and
recruiting coordinator for a UALR program which won
18 games in three-consecutive seasons. Shields was
one of the keys in sparking the biggest turnaround
in Sun Belt Conference history, taking a UALR team
that won just four games the previous year and
leading it to an 18-11 record in the 2000-01 season.
The Trojans followed that with another 18-11 season,
despite losing four seniors and the top three
scorers from the previous year, and an 18-12 mark in
the 2002-03 season.
Shields came to UALR after a four-year stint as head
coach at McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas.
At MCC, Shields led the Highlanders to a regional
championship in 1997-98 and their first national
tournament appearance in 22 years. After that
season, Shields was voted the Texas Junior College
Coach of the Year by the Texas Association of
Basketball Coaches and received Region V Coach of
the Year honors as well.
During Shields’ first year as head coach at
McLennan, the Highlanders were co-champions of the
North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference.
Previously, Shields had been an assistant at
McLennan for three seasons and helped lead the
Highlanders to a combined 80-13 record. Twice, MCC
was ranked in the top 10 nationally and finished the
1992-93 regular season ranked as the No. 2 team in
the country.
Before making the move to collegiate athletics,
Shields was the athletic director and head football
and basketball coach at his alma mater, Reicher
Catholic High School in Waco. His football team
claimed a district title after winning just one game
the previous season, and Shields led his basketball
team to a 23-8 record after the squad won just two
games the previous year.
Shields was also a collegiate athlete, beginning at
Oklahoma City University, where he sat out his
freshman year as a redshirt before transferring to
McLennan and playing basketball for a year. He then
transferred to Baylor University where he played
golf for his father, longtime Baylor coach Gene
Shields, and earned All-Southwest Conference honors
in 1987. Shields, born March 9, 1965, earned his
bachelor of science in education in 1988 and a
master’s in education in 1992, both at Baylor.
Shields has been married for 17 years to the former
Dee Dieterich, an interactive account manager for
Stone Ward Fusebox in Little Rock. They have one
son, Hayden Dieterich Shields, born Sept. 17, 2001;
and one daughter, Halle Elisabeth Shields, born
Sept. 23, 2005. |
