FAYETTEVILLE -- Scotty Thurman wanted to be a basketball coach, but he wanted to do it at Arkansas, where he helped the Razorbacks win the 1994 national championship.
That's why Thurman said he turned down several opportunities to be a college or high school coach while serving as Arkansas' director of student-athlete development the last six years.
"I'm wired a little different than most guys in that my loyalty's here," Thurman said. "I'm a Razorback, and I'll forever and always be.
"There's a reason I have never left this state nor have any intention to."
Thurman, a Ruston, La., native who has made Arkansas his home for more than 20 years since playing for the Razorbacks, finally is getting a chance at 41 to coach without leaving the UA.
Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson made Thurman a full-time assistant in a staff shakeup that included moving Matt Zimmerman from an assistant's position to director of basketball operations and making Jeff Daniels director of student-athlete development.
The moves came after the Razorbacks went 16-16 this season, including 9-9 on the SEC, and missed making the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in Anderson's five seasons as coach.
"There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about how I can get Arkansas basketball better," Anderson said. "So as I sat back and evaluated where we were and what we're doing, I wanted to do some shifting and put guys in positions where I think it's going to really benefit us.
"One of those movements is moving up Scotty Thurman into an assistant coach role."
Before returning to Arkansas in an administrative role, Thurman coached at Episcopal Collegiate School in Little Rock, but he has no previous college coaching experience.
"I know that it's a huge task and it's my first time doing it," Thurman said. "But I'm very, very excited about it."
When Anderson was hired at Arkansas from Missouri, Thurman went on trips with him to visit recruits before the rest of the coaching staff came on board.
Thurman also has assisted in recruiting during on-campus visits as an administrator. He has been recruiting for the last month and said he's anxious to establish more relationships with AAU and high school coaches.
Anderson credited Thurman with helping sign Bracken Hazen this spring. Hazen, a 6-8 forward from Fort Wayne, Ind., signed with Central Florida last fall but was granted a scholarship release after Donnie Jones was fired as the Knights' coach.
"I was trying to identify someone to come in and be a part of what we're doing here and have an opportunity to develop, and he was someone who stepped out to me and our staff," Thurman said. "We evaluated him and we liked what we saw."
Anderson said he liked what he saw from Thurman on their recruiting visits in the spring of 2011 and took that into consideration in making him an assistant coach.
"I got a feel at that time that Scotty was going to be a tremendous coach," Anderson said. "My instincts told me that.
"I'm really excited about Scotty going on the road. I think he's a very good judge of talent. He can build relationships. And who better to sell your program than guys who have lived it at the highest level?"
Anderson said making Thurman an assistant coach and putting Zimmerman -- his assistant coach for 14 seasons -- into an administrative role came after careful consideration.
"I made the statement after the season that I wanted to re-evaluate where we are as a program and where we're going," Anderson said. "So it wasn't a knee-jerk reaction, because one thing I don't do is panic.
"I don't make decisions just to make them. So there is a lot of thought put into this. How can we make Razorback basketball better? How can we put guys in position where they are more effective?
"I think we've got a great staff. I really, really do."
Thurman was an All-SEC forward for the Razorbacks from 1993-95 and ranks 10th on Arkansas' all-time scoring list with 1,650 points.
His most memorable of 611 baskets was a three-pointer with less than a minute left in help seal the Razorbacks' 76-72 victory over Duke in the 1994 NCAA Tournament title game.
As an administrator the last six years, Thurman could watch practices, but wasn't able to coach on the floor as he'll do now.
"It's been somewhat challenging," Thurman said of waiting for his shot to coach at Arkansas. "When you're a former player, you feel you bring some skills to the table.
"But you have to pay your dues, and I've paid those dues."
Sports on 05/13/2016