HawgBeat - Mike Neighbors Exclusive Pt. 2: Roster turnover and NCAA Tournament
HawgBeat sat down with Arkansas head coach Mike Neighbors to discuss the state of the program, expectations, NIL, more
arkansas.rivals.com
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, Arkansas native said he cherishes the opportunity to lead his home-state program for any amount of time, let along the near-decade he's had so far.
So far, his tenure has marked major improvement from previous head coach Jimmy Dykes, but it also came with inopportune timing with the Covid-19 pandemic and changes in the landscape of college athletics. Two of Neighbors' best teams were subject to a canceled NCAA Tournament and then an uncharacteristic NCAA Tournament held at a neutral site in Texas rather than at home in Fayetteville.
While Neighbors has adjusted to the changes and is looking forward after the Covid issues, fans are antsy about the direction of the program, particularly in regards to the roster turnover and lack of NCAA Tournament success. HawgBeat dives into those two topics with part two of our exclusive series with Neighbors.
"We’ve obviously gone through some major rule changes the recent months that have kind of made us go a different trajectory a little bit with the challenges we face," Neighbors said. "I guess to put a bow on that, I’m thankful to have ever coached one game, much less seven years’ worth, so to be going into year eight… I’ve always kind of patterned my career after Coach (Gary) Blair, my mentor, and he was here for 10 years, so the chance to be getting into that conversation I’m excited by it, but certainly not satisfied.”
Recent engagement on social media has indicated some common themes in the Razorback women's basketball fanbase: they care more about the NCAA Tournament than anything else. Because that is the mindset, any other accolade seems to be discarded or shrugged off.
As one poster tweeted, "Can you point to the specific rafter in Bud Walton or Barnhill where we hang coaching statistics? I must've missed those."
The fact that those are now the expectations for the program when it had been to just two NCAA Tournaments in the combined 14 seasons prior to Neighbors being the head coach, spanning three different head coaches, speaks volumes to the job that Neighbors has done in Fayetteville.
“I certainly want to be in the NCAA Tournament as many years as we can be, but postseasons, if you look historically in the 33-year history of Arkansas women’s basketball, going to the postseason six times in a row has only happened one other time and that was by Coach Blair,” Neighbors said. “I’m happy with where we are, I’m proud of those kids who helped get us to where we’re at. This recent little turn here has presented us with some new challenges, which, just like before when we got here, we’ve got a plan to get us out of it.
"It takes some patience and it takes some people having some understanding and asking questions. Quite frankly, I’m open to talking about anything we’re doing and share with people. Anybody who knows me knows that that’s what I’ll do, so all-in-all, thankful, happy, and excited for what’s to come.”
This past year's team that was full of young and promising talent was decimated by the transfer portal. Neighbors lost four of his team's top five scorers to the portal and a fifth to eligibility. Part of fans' frustrations stems from the mass exodus, bringing in so much talent only to lose it to other major programs, especially programs within the SEC.
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