John Pelphrey

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John Pelphrey

John Pelphrey (born July 18, 1968 in Paintsville, Kentucky) is the 14th head men's basketball coach at the University of Arkansas (hired April 2007). After being named Kentucky's "Mr. Basketball" in 1987[1], he became a star college player at the University of Kentucky. Prior to coaching the Razorbacks, he served as head basketball coach for South Alabama. Pelphrey served as an assistant coach under Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State and Billy Donovan at Marshall and Florida. He and his wife Tracy have two children, a son and a daughter.

Playing career

High School

John Pelphrey attended Paintsville High School in Paintsville, Kentucky, where he was coached by Bill Mike Runyon. He would lead the Tigers to the Sweet Sixteen in the State Tournament, and make the Sweet Sixteen Fab 50. During his senior year as a Tiger (1987), the team's final record was 32-5. The team won Paintsville Invitational Championship, the Hillbrook Classic, the 57th District Championship, the 15th Region Championship, and made the KHSAA "Sweet Sixteen" Final Four. A two-sport athlete, Pelphrey also played baseball during his high school years as a shortstop and a pitcher.

College

While a player at Kentucky from 1988-1992, Pelphrey led the Wildcats to the SEC Tournament Championship and a NCAA Tournament appearance, including the epic battle with Duke in the 1992 Elite Eight. Pelphrey was a two-time captain while at Kentucky and in 1989 was named the UK Student Athlete of the Year. During his collegiate career, Pelphrey started 90 of 114 games, and averaged 11 points per game over his career. In 2005, Pelphrey was inducted into the Kentucky Hall of Fame.[1]

During his freshman year in 1988-89, the UK program was rocked by a major scandal. One player, Eric Manuel, was found by the NCAA to have received improper assistance on his college entrance exams. A second player, Chris Mills, received cash payments from a booster. The scandal led to the resignation of coach Eddie Sutton and athletic director Cliff Hagan, and led to major NCAA sanctions. Pelphrey and his fellow freshmen, Richie Farmer, Deron Feldhaus, and Sean Woods, stayed with the program despite the sanctions, and entered UK lore during their senior season in 1991-92.

That year, a relatively unheralded Kentucky team coached by Rick Pitino, in its first year after coming off NCAA probation, lost to Duke in the Elite Eight. This game is often considered one of the greatest in college basketball history, ending with the Blue Devils' Christian Laettner's buzzer-beating jumper in overtime, which is among the most famous finishes in a college basketball game. The four seniors, as undisputed team leaders who showed their loyalty to UK during some of the program's darkest hours, would forever be known by Wildcats fans as "The Unforgettables" (A name given to them by Coach Pitino). Pelphrey is one of only 29 former Kentucky players to have his jersey retired (#34).[2]

Coaching career

Oklahoma State

After leaving Kentucky, Pelphrey spent a short time playing basketball overseas before joining his former coach Eddie Sutton's staff at Oklahoma State for the 1993-94 season.[1]

Marshall

Pelphrey joined Billy Donovan's staff at Marshall for two years and was instrumental in the resurgence of the Thundering Herd program.

Florida

In 1996, he followed Donovan from Marshall to Florida and coached as an assistant for 6 years. He helped the Gators garnish a school record four straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 1999 to 2002. During the 1999-2000 season, the Gators made their first-ever appearance in the national championship game against Michigan State.[1]

South Alabama

Pelphrey spent five seasons as head coach at the University of South Alabama. In his first season there in 2002-03, Pelphrey led the Jaguars from a 8-20 record the year before to a 14-14 record. In 2005-06 the Jaguars defeated Western Kentucky University in the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship game, earning USA's first NCAA tournament bid since 1998. The Jaguars lost to eventual tournament champions, Florida in the round of 64.

In 2007, Pelphrey led the Jags to a regular season title but they fell short in the Sun Belt Conference tournament quarterfinals. This led to an NIT berth and resulted in a loss to Syracuse in the first round 79-73. [3] South Alabama finished the year with a 20-12 record, giving Pelphrey an overall record of 80-67 with the Jags. [4]

Arkansas

Pelphrey taking part in the Red-White (first scrimmage of the season) game for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Pelphrey was announced as the new head coach of the University of Arkansas basketball team at a press conference on Monday, April 9th at 3pm in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Pelphrey replaced Dana Altman, who resigned after 26 hours as the head coach of Arkansas. [5] The Razorbacks began the season ranked # 19, but fell out of the top 25 after losing their third game of the season to unranked Providence College. Arkansas went on to win six consecutive games to improve to 8-1, before losing to the Oklahoma Sooners. They finished the nonconference season 10-3, highlighted by wins over Missouri and Baylor, and a disappointing loss at Alltel Arena in Little Rock to Appalachian State University. The Hogs won their first two conference games against Auburn and Alabama.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
South Alabama (Sun Belt Conference) (2002–2007)
2002–2003 South Alabama 14-14 7-8 T-3rd (West)
2003–2004 South Alabama 12-16 6-9 T-4th (West)
2004–2005 South Alabama 10-18 6-9 T-4th (West)
2005–2006 South Alabama 24-7 12-3 1st (West) NCAA 1st Round
2006–2007 South Alabama 20-12 13-5 1st (East) NIT 1st Round
South Alabama: 80-67 44-40
Arkansas (Southeastern Conference) (2007–present)
2007–2008 Arkansas 13-3 2-0
Arkansas: 13-3 2-0
Total: 93-70

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Awards

Player

Coaching

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "John Pelphrey ". USAJaguars.com. 2006-07-30. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  2. ^ Story, Mark (2007-04-20). "Tubby Bashers not the majority" (HTML). Retrieved 2007-05-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  3. ^ "College Hoops". CNNSI.com. Retrieved 2007-03-14.
  4. ^ Smith, Matthew (2007-04-09). "Report: Arkansas Inks South Alabama's John Pelphrey To Be Next Head Coach". All Headline News. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
  5. ^ "Pelphrey to leave South Alabama after five years". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-04-08.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h "John Pelphrey" (PDF). Gatorzone.com. Retrieved 2007-04-09.

External links

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