Head coach Mike Neighbors is entering his eighth year at the helm of the Arkansas women's basketball program, which has made six straight postseason appearances.
The Greenwood native accepted the job in 2017 after leading the University of Washington to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments, including a Final Four in 2015-16. He felt called to come home and rebuild a program in the cellars of the SEC that had amassed a 2-14 conference record in the 2016-2017 season — the year before Neighbors took over.
Since then, he's led the Hogs to the NCAA Tournament two out of the last four years, and Neighbors told HawgBeat that he's loving the opportunity to lead his home state team.
“Thankful,” Neighbors said. “I wanted to coach one game here. You know, that was the whole goal, was to be the coach here for one game. So to have done it this long, (I'm) thankful to have the opportunity to have done it. I’ve always from a young age been told by my Papaw to leave it better than you found it, and I think when we walked in here we were picked dead last.
"We had finished dead last the year before I got here. The locker room was empty. We had five kids in my first meeting. So for us to have now just finished playing in six consecutive postseasons, I’m thankful, I’m excited, I’m not satisfied by any means.”
Those six consecutive postseason appearances include two trips to the NCAA Tournament, one guaranteed bid in a canceled NCAA Tournament where the women finished the season No. 24 in the AP Poll and three WBIT appearances. Of teams in the SEC, only South Carolina and Tennessee have made six consecutive postseason appearances (Texas and Oklahoma after the league's recent expansion).
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The Greenwood native accepted the job in 2017 after leading the University of Washington to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments, including a Final Four in 2015-16. He felt called to come home and rebuild a program in the cellars of the SEC that had amassed a 2-14 conference record in the 2016-2017 season — the year before Neighbors took over.
Since then, he's led the Hogs to the NCAA Tournament two out of the last four years, and Neighbors told HawgBeat that he's loving the opportunity to lead his home state team.
“Thankful,” Neighbors said. “I wanted to coach one game here. You know, that was the whole goal, was to be the coach here for one game. So to have done it this long, (I'm) thankful to have the opportunity to have done it. I’ve always from a young age been told by my Papaw to leave it better than you found it, and I think when we walked in here we were picked dead last.
"We had finished dead last the year before I got here. The locker room was empty. We had five kids in my first meeting. So for us to have now just finished playing in six consecutive postseasons, I’m thankful, I’m excited, I’m not satisfied by any means.”
Those six consecutive postseason appearances include two trips to the NCAA Tournament, one guaranteed bid in a canceled NCAA Tournament where the women finished the season No. 24 in the AP Poll and three WBIT appearances. Of teams in the SEC, only South Carolina and Tennessee have made six consecutive postseason appearances (Texas and Oklahoma after the league's recent expansion).
CONTINUE READING HERE
