FAYETTEVILLE -- By the mentality sometimes displayed on social media and message boards, Mike Anderson would have been fired for not advancing Arkansas Razorbacks basketball into the NCAA Tournament in three years.
John Pelphrey, Anderson's eventually fired predecessor, would have been locked up with a lengthy contract extension during the euphoria of his 2008-2009 Razorbacks capping their nonconference campaign by beating fourth-ranked Oklahoma and seventh-ranked Texas.
Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long did neither. In fact, on Tuesday, Long announced Anderson's $2.2 million contract extension through 2020.
On all these aspects, this column goes along with Long.
Long acknowledged many wanting to "lock up" Pelphrey to a long-term contract during the Oklahoma-Texas euphoria in 2008-2009 and then wanting to "lock him out" as the 2009 SEC season unraveled as the Razorbacks went 2-14.
Pelphrey spent two more years digging a deeper hole.
Graduation failures of the senior class that Pelphrey inherited from Stan Heath while going two games deep into the NCAA Tournament his first year cost Arkansas dearly with scholarships losses for failing to keep pace with the Academic Progress Rate.
Things only worsened with various character risks that Pelphrey recruited.
Anderson changed all that. With last year's senior class (including current fifth-year senior Alandise Harris) all graduated, Long anticipates a perfect 1,000 APR score next spring.
Better yet, players all publicly exhibit character that fans can take their kids to see and not avoid.
"Mike is a man of character," Long said Thursday night after Anderson's radio show. "He has changed the culture and changed the quality of the young men that are playing for us, and he has built a strong, strong foundation for us to move forward. I think he's demonstrated that he can do everything you expect a head coach to do here at Arkansas."
What's expected has become even beyond Arkansas' winning tradition begun by Eddie Sutton (1974-85) and ascended to the 1994 national championship by Nolan Richardson (1985-2002), whom Anderson assisted all 17 seasons.
"Today's game is different than it was even back in Nolan Richardson's days [with] what coaches are asked to do and expected to do between graduation, APR rates," Long said. "All those things have changed. Mike Anderson understands and has built that into the program. I couldn't be more excited. And we are very close to winning consistently on the court."
Arkansas has improved each of Anderson's three years, including 22-12 and an NIT appearance last season. Arkansas stands 12-2 and 1-0 in the SEC going into today's conference game against Vanderbilt after rallying to beat Georgia on Tuesday night in Athens, Ga.
Anderson's contract extension was announced Tuesday afternoon, and some Arkansas fans expressed concern that night on Twitter after Anderson's Hogs trailed Georgia by 13 points in the first half.
Long willingly risked announcing the contract extension hours before a tough road game.
"There is a reason we announced it then, because we wanted to demonstrate win or lose that we are committed to Mike," Long said. "It's not about one game here or one game there."
Sports on 01/10/2015