MOBILE, Ala. — Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey wouldn’t complain if he was still a Florida assistant for Billy Donovan.

“I could have stayed at Florida another 10 years and worked for Billy,” Pelphrey said. “I care about him that much. I enjoyed Florida that much.”

Pelphrey said he didn’t leave Florida in the spring of 2003 after six seasons simply to be a head coach.

“I wasn’t going to just run at every opportunity,” he said. “I thought if I was ever going to go, that I needed to be able to trust who I worked for. I knew I wasn’t going to trust my fa m i ly with just anybody.”

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Pelphrey said he wanted to work at a school that had been successful in the past and where he knew if he worked hard and brought in good players, he’d be successful, too.

That place turned out to be South Alabama, where Pelphrey’s Razorbacks (2-1 ) will be the visiting team tonight against the Jaguars (2-2 ) in the Mitchell Center.

“Obviously, I don’t get an opportunity at Arkansas if I don’t have some success at South Alabama,” said Pelphrey, who is in his second season with the Razorbacks. “I was never disappointed going to South Alabama.

“ Everything they said that could happen for me as a young coach happened for me.”

South Alabama Athletic Director Joe Gottfried hired Pelphrey to replace Bob Weltlich, who went 7-21 in his final season.

“John got us headed back in the right direction,” Gottfried said. “He had a plan, and he didn’t steer from it. He struggled the first two years and even the third year, and there were some people that wondered if he’d get it turned around, but I knew he was going to be able to turn it.”

The Jaguars went 14-14, 12-16 and 10-18 in Pelphrey’s first three seasons.

In his fourth season South Alabama won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament title, played in the NCAA Tournament and finished 24-7. The next season the Jaguars shared the Sun Belt regular-season title, played in the NIT and were 20-12.

Last season under Coach Ronnie Arrow, and with several of Pelphrey’s former players, South Alabama won the Sun Belt regular-season title, received an NCAA Tournament at-large berth and finished 26-7.

“The thing about John Pelphrey is, he’s going to do it methodically, he’s going to do it the right way,” Gottfried said. “He won’t have any quick fixes.

“ I think you’re going to see a very similar situation at Arkansas, where he’s lost a lot of kids from last season, but he’s going to build that program the right way.”

Pelphrey said his third season at South Alabama was especially tough, but that he learned more as a coach than at any other time in his career.

“I didn’t know at the time what I was getting into, but it really was helpful for me and forced me to stand on my own and find out what you really believe in and who you are,” he said. “That stuff was great for me. I think it makes me better on a daily basis now.

“ I’m very, very thankful, and that’s a big reason why I’m going back.”

At Gottfried’s suggestion, a clause was put in Pelphrey’s contract that if he left South Alabama to coach at a school in a major conference, he would schedule a home-and-home series with the Jaguars as a buyout clause rather than incur a financial penalty.

“It’s tough for us to get SEC teams in our building, so this is much better for us than a buyout,” Gottfried said. “But John easily could have bought his way out of this, and he kept his word.

“ We’ve had a lot of people who have said to me how much they respect him for coming back.”

South Alabama’s roster includes five players Pelphrey coached or recruited, including senior forward Brandon Davis, who is averaging team highs of 17 points and 9 rebounds.

“I’d be disappointed if they weren’t ready to go,” Pelphrey said of what he expects facing his former players. “I’m very proud of what they’ve accomplished.”

Arkansas forward Michael Sanchez said Pelphrey hasn’t talked to the Razorbacks about his return to South Alabama, but they understand the situation.

“I think everyone wants to win every game that we play, but this game will be really important to Coach Pel,” Sanchez said.

Pelphrey said tonight’s game isn’t of the magnitude of last season’s homecoming to Kentucky, where he starred for the Wildcats and has his retired jersey hanging from the Rupp Arena rafters. But it’s not just the next game, either.

Pelphrey said Gottfried is a mentor who has played an invaluable role in his life and that his family still has close friends in Mobile.

“I’m sure there will be some emotions when I walk back into the Mitchell Center, but my focus right now is our 10 guys,” Pelphrey said. “This is a big game for us.”