I think I have heard some of you imply that Wimp did not seem particularly enthusiastic about being at Little Rock. Is that impression correct?

(12-16-2010 01:14 PM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  I think I have heard some of you imply that Wimp did not seem particularly enthusiastic about being at Little Rock. Is that impression correct?

I was told by someone who overheard Wimp at an AAU event, or some high school tournament, introduce himself to players as the former coach at Alabama. Not the UALR coach, which he was, but the "former coach at Alabama". I believe he felt this job was beneath him. But that's all heresay.

(12-16-2010 01:14 PM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  I think I have heard some of you imply that Wimp did not seem particularly enthusiastic about being at Little Rock. Is that impression correct?

Wimp was an older coach who had been extremely successful at the highest levels of college basketball who found himself in a very bad position. I think he always had a lot of bitterness about how things turned out for him at Alabama, and although I think he liked Little Rock and the people here, it was quite a come down from being coach of the year in the SEC, etc. I think all of that colored his attitude about being here.

When UNO hit the tear drop shot to keep us out of the NCAAs, I think Wimp really got depressed. I think he figured that taking Little Rock to the NCAAs was going to be his redemption and ticket back to the big time. It didn't happen, and that probably just made the enthusiasm dwindle that much more.

(12-16-2010 01:41 PM)PTJR Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 01:14 PM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  I think I have heard some of you imply that Wimp did not seem particularly enthusiastic about being at Little Rock. Is that impression correct?

Wimp was an older coach who had been extremely successful at the highest levels of college basketball who found himself in a very bad position. I think he always had a lot of bitterness about how things turned out for him at Alabama, and although I think he liked Little Rock and the people here, it was quite a come down from being coach of the year in the SEC, etc. I think all of that colored his attitude about being here.

When UNO hit the tear drop shot to keep us out of the NCAAs, I think Wimp really got depressed. I think he figured that taking Little Rock to the NCAAs was going to be his redemption and ticket back to the big time. It didn't happen, and that probably just made the enthusiasm dwindle that much more.

Probably an accurate description of Wimp's career here.

My memory of Wimp is that he didn't then and even now, is that he is not a particularly happy guy wherever he happens to be. If he was bitter about the way he left Alabama, that's tough. Not the fault of Little Rock. I always wondered, if he thought Little Rock was beneath him, why did he take the job? Seems to me if he was hopeful of another big time gig, Little Rock was a very good opportunity for him start to rebuild his image. Seems to me he didn't do that and apparently was not wanted anywhere And, I disagree about having had a highly successful career at Alabama. What did he win while there? I recall he was an Assistant Coach there for something like 25 years before finally getting the Head Job. He once told us at a gathering that while at Alabama he did no recruiting. Said he had 2 fulltime assistants whose primary responsibility was recruiting. Sorry for all this venting. My memories of Wimp Sanders as our coach are not very good. I thought he did the right thing in taking his sour puss mug back to Alabama.

(12-16-2010 03:51 PM)DollarBill Wrote:  My memory of Wimp is that he didn't then and even now, is that he is not a particularly happy guy wherever he happens to be. If he was bitter about the way he left Alabama, that's tough. Not the fault of Little Rock. I always wondered, if he thought Little Rock was beneath him, why did he take the job? Seems to me if he was hopeful of another big time gig, Little Rock was a very good opportunity for him start to rebuild his image. Seems to me he didn't do that and apparently was not wanted anywhere And, I disagree about having had a highly successful career at Alabama. What did he win while there? I recall he was an Assistant Coach there for something like 25 years before finally getting the Head Job. He once told us at a gathering that while at Alabama he did no recruiting. Said he had 2 fulltime assistants whose primary responsibility was recruiting. Sorry for all this venting. My memories of Wimp Sanders as our coach are not very good. I thought he did the right thing in taking his sour puss mug back to Alabama.

Can't argue with that. However, for whatever reason I kind of liked Wimp. He was brutally honest. Not a whole lot of BS or coach speak. But probably not the best guy for our program- Where Newell always saw the glass as half full, Wimp saw it as half empty. Newell could probably convince recruits Barton was a palace. Wimp would simply tell them it was a dump. I remember him actually stating that a recruit told him "Coach its not as bad as you said". I think if he had the Stephens Arena he would have smiled a bit more.

(12-16-2010 04:23 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 03:51 PM)DollarBill Wrote:  My memory of Wimp is that he didn't then and even now, is that he is not a particularly happy guy wherever he happens to be. If he was bitter about the way he left Alabama, that's tough. Not the fault of Little Rock. I always wondered, if he thought Little Rock was beneath him, why did he take the job? Seems to me if he was hopeful of another big time gig, Little Rock was a very good opportunity for him start to rebuild his image. Seems to me he didn't do that and apparently was not wanted anywhere And, I disagree about having had a highly successful career at Alabama. What did he win while there? I recall he was an Assistant Coach there for something like 25 years before finally getting the Head Job. He once told us at a gathering that while at Alabama he did no recruiting. Said he had 2 fulltime assistants whose primary responsibility was recruiting. Sorry for all this venting. My memories of Wimp Sanders as our coach are not very good. I thought he did the right thing in taking his sour puss mug back to Alabama.

Can't argue with that. However, for whatever reason I kind of liked Wimp. He was brutally honest. Not a whole lot of BS or coach speak. But probably not the best guy for our program- Where Newell always saw the glass as half full, Wimp saw it as half empty. Newell could probably convince recruits Barton was a palace. Wimp would simply tell them it was a dump. I remember him actually stating that a recruit told him "Coach its not as bad as you said". I think if he had the Stephens Arena he would have smiled a bit more.

"And, I disagree about having had a highly successful career at Alabama. What did he win while there?"

Well, here you go:

He was the head coach at Alabama from 1981 to 1992. In 11 years as head coach his teams averaged 21.8 wins a year, with a 267-119 record, and they won 4 SEC tournaments. They played in one NIT and eight NCAA tournaments making the "Sweet 16" five times. He is only coach in Alabama history to win 200 or more games in his first 10 years. He was the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year in 1987, 1989 and 1990, and was the National Coach of the Year in 1987.

If that's not a pretty solid record, I'd like to see what is. Maybe Coach K or Tom Izzo and a few others have better resumes, but that's a pretty good decade of coaching. I wish Little Rock had been to even a quarter of that many post season tournaments in 11 years!

Yes he had a great career at Alabama. No question he was a great coach. I don't know about his recruiting at Alabama, but someone recruited some very good players while he was there. I also liked Wimp as person. He wasn't Mr. Personality, but that was just Wimp. He was funny. He damn sure could coach good players. The few times I talked to him, he was very friendly. I think he was a quiet person, and didn't talk much, but he was friendly. I also think he is one of the best color men doing a basketball game on TV. He can tell you what is going on in a way that even I can understand it.

The funniest story about Wimp that I remember, was the one that the driver of the team bus at Grambling one year, told about Wimp getting on the bus after a game one night, and some situation that had come up during the game, and the driver saying to Wimp as he got on the bus, Coach, why didn't you do so and so in that situation, and Wimp quickly replied, "you drive the bus and I'll do the coaching." Even the driver thought that was funny.

No, he didn't win the tournament while he was here, even if it was at Barton several times, and as Mickey says, "it's a crap shoot" anyway. But, you've normally got to be pretty damn good to get to the finals. Shields hasn't even sniffed the finals in seven years. And in my opinion, he hasn't recruited much better than Wimp did either.

Remember "Dirt Road Lizard"..? Classic Wimp stuff.

After three and a half seasons, I was through with Wimp. I could tell he was just bringing in a bunch scrubs. He'd get some kid who scored 20 ppg on a 7-27 Alabama juco team--basically some doofus who was used to losing that nobody heard of or wanted.

Who were some of the players he recruited?

(12-16-2010 07:52 PM)eh9198 Wrote:  Who were some of the players he recruited?

The only standout I can think of is Alan Barksdale.

He had a few gems in there.

The rest were not as memorable, but many had their strengths. I am going strictly off memory. (i'll look it up on statsheet.com later)
Steve Rector
Laverne Smith
Maurice Bowie
Derrick Crayton
Chris Green
Michael Lovitt
James Price
Daniyal Robinson
Ryan Moss (or was he Sid's?) (from Bahamas, but not related to Rashad)

(12-16-2010 07:59 PM)Robert C Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 07:52 PM)eh9198 Wrote:  Who were some of the players he recruited?

The only standout I can think of is Alan Barksdale.

He had a few gems in there.

The rest were not as memorable, but many had their strengths. I am going strictly off memory. (i'll look it up on statsheet.com later)
Steve Rector
Laverne SmithMaurice Bowie
Derrick Crayton
Chris GreenMichael Lovitt
James Price
Daniyal Robinson
Ryan Moss (or was he Sid's?) (from Bahamas, but not related to Rashad)

Laverne Smith, Chris Green, and Ryan Moss were three good ones.

(12-16-2010 04:51 PM)PTJR Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 04:23 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 03:51 PM)DollarBill Wrote:  My memory of Wimp is that he didn't then and even now, is that he is not a particularly happy guy wherever he happens to be. If he was bitter about the way he left Alabama, that's tough. Not the fault of Little Rock. I always wondered, if he thought Little Rock was beneath him, why did he take the job? Seems to me if he was hopeful of another big time gig, Little Rock was a very good opportunity for him start to rebuild his image. Seems to me he didn't do that and apparently was not wanted anywhere And, I disagree about having had a highly successful career at Alabama. What did he win while there? I recall he was an Assistant Coach there for something like 25 years before finally getting the Head Job. He once told us at a gathering that while at Alabama he did no recruiting. Said he had 2 fulltime assistants whose primary responsibility was recruiting. Sorry for all this venting. My memories of Wimp Sanders as our coach are not very good. I thought he did the right thing in taking his sour puss mug back to Alabama.

Can't argue with that. However, for whatever reason I kind of liked Wimp. He was brutally honest. Not a whole lot of BS or coach speak. But probably not the best guy for our program- Where Newell always saw the glass as half full, Wimp saw it as half empty. Newell could probably convince recruits Barton was a palace. Wimp would simply tell them it was a dump. I remember him actually stating that a recruit told him "Coach its not as bad as you said". I think if he had the Stephens Arena he would have smiled a bit more.

"And, I disagree about having had a highly successful career at Alabama. What did he win while there?"

Well, here you go:

He was the head coach at Alabama from 1981 to 1992. In 11 years as head coach his teams averaged 21.8 wins a year, with a 267-119 record, and they won 4 SEC tournaments. They played in one NIT and eight NCAA tournaments making the "Sweet 16" five times. He is only coach in Alabama history to win 200 or more games in his first 10 years. He was the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year in 1987, 1989 and 1990, and was the National Coach of the Year in 1987.

If that's not a pretty solid record, I'd like to see what is. Maybe Coach K or Tom Izzo and a few others have better resumes, but that's a pretty good decade of coaching. I wish Little Rock had been to even a quarter of that many post season tournaments in 11 years!

Nice beat down of mjs . . . did he not watch basketball for that decade? Wimp had Sprewell and Horry @ Bama - that was hell on wheels!

(12-16-2010 10:55 PM)WinstonTheWolf Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 04:51 PM)PTJR Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 04:23 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 03:51 PM)DollarBill Wrote:  My memory of Wimp is that he didn't then and even now, is that he is not a particularly happy guy wherever he happens to be. If he was bitter about the way he left Alabama, that's tough. Not the fault of Little Rock. I always wondered, if he thought Little Rock was beneath him, why did he take the job? Seems to me if he was hopeful of another big time gig, Little Rock was a very good opportunity for him start to rebuild his image. Seems to me he didn't do that and apparently was not wanted anywhere And, I disagree about having had a highly successful career at Alabama. What did he win while there? I recall he was an Assistant Coach there for something like 25 years before finally getting the Head Job. He once told us at a gathering that while at Alabama he did no recruiting. Said he had 2 fulltime assistants whose primary responsibility was recruiting. Sorry for all this venting. My memories of Wimp Sanders as our coach are not very good. I thought he did the right thing in taking his sour puss mug back to Alabama.

Can't argue with that. However, for whatever reason I kind of liked Wimp. He was brutally honest. Not a whole lot of BS or coach speak. But probably not the best guy for our program- Where Newell always saw the glass as half full, Wimp saw it as half empty. Newell could probably convince recruits Barton was a palace. Wimp would simply tell them it was a dump. I remember him actually stating that a recruit told him "Coach its not as bad as you said". I think if he had the Stephens Arena he would have smiled a bit more.

"And, I disagree about having had a highly successful career at Alabama. What did he win while there?"

Well, here you go:

He was the head coach at Alabama from 1981 to 1992. In 11 years as head coach his teams averaged 21.8 wins a year, with a 267-119 record, and they won 4 SEC tournaments. They played in one NIT and eight NCAA tournaments making the "Sweet 16" five times. He is only coach in Alabama history to win 200 or more games in his first 10 years. He was the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year in 1987, 1989 and 1990, and was the National Coach of the Year in 1987.

If that's not a pretty solid record, I'd like to see what is. Maybe Coach K or Tom Izzo and a few others have better resumes, but that's a pretty good decade of coaching. I wish Little Rock had been to even a quarter of that many post season tournaments in 11 years!

Nice beat down of mjs . . . did he not watch basketball for that decade? Wimp had Sprewell and Horry @ Bama - that was hell on wheels!

Hey, it wasn't me who questioned Wimp's credentials.

(12-16-2010 11:03 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 10:55 PM)WinstonTheWolf Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 04:51 PM)PTJR Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 04:23 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 03:51 PM)DollarBill Wrote:  My memory of Wimp is that he didn't then and even now, is that he is not a particularly happy guy wherever he happens to be. If he was bitter about the way he left Alabama, that's tough. Not the fault of Little Rock. I always wondered, if he thought Little Rock was beneath him, why did he take the job? Seems to me if he was hopeful of another big time gig, Little Rock was a very good opportunity for him start to rebuild his image. Seems to me he didn't do that and apparently was not wanted anywhere And, I disagree about having had a highly successful career at Alabama. What did he win while there? I recall he was an Assistant Coach there for something like 25 years before finally getting the Head Job. He once told us at a gathering that while at Alabama he did no recruiting. Said he had 2 fulltime assistants whose primary responsibility was recruiting. Sorry for all this venting. My memories of Wimp Sanders as our coach are not very good. I thought he did the right thing in taking his sour puss mug back to Alabama.

Can't argue with that. However, for whatever reason I kind of liked Wimp. He was brutally honest. Not a whole lot of BS or coach speak. But probably not the best guy for our program- Where Newell always saw the glass as half full, Wimp saw it as half empty. Newell could probably convince recruits Barton was a palace. Wimp would simply tell them it was a dump. I remember him actually stating that a recruit told him "Coach its not as bad as you said". I think if he had the Stephens Arena he would have smiled a bit more.

"And, I disagree about having had a highly successful career at Alabama. What did he win while there?"

Well, here you go:

He was the head coach at Alabama from 1981 to 1992. In 11 years as head coach his teams averaged 21.8 wins a year, with a 267-119 record, and they won 4 SEC tournaments. They played in one NIT and eight NCAA tournaments making the "Sweet 16" five times. He is only coach in Alabama history to win 200 or more games in his first 10 years. He was the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year in 1987, 1989 and 1990, and was the National Coach of the Year in 1987.

If that's not a pretty solid record, I'd like to see what is. Maybe Coach K or Tom Izzo and a few others have better resumes, but that's a pretty good decade of coaching. I wish Little Rock had been to even a quarter of that many post season tournaments in 11 years!

Nice beat down of mjs . . . did he not watch basketball for that decade? Wimp had Sprewell and Horry @ Bama - that was hell on wheels!

Hey, it wasn't me who questioned Wimp's credentials.

Having discussed and watched college basketball with MJS for thirty years, I can guarantee you that he didn't miss that decade. He keeps track of what goes on in college ball about as well as anyone I know.