FAYETTEVILLE — Mike Neighbors and the Arkansas women’s basketball team are planning for a long stay in San Antonio.
They experienced the joy of hearing the Razorbacks’ name called Monday as part of the 64-team field for the NCAA Tournament. They will now get ready for business — the team’s first NCAA Tournament game since 2015.
The women’s tournament will be played at venues around the San Antonio area starting Sunday, and the championship game is slated for April 4. Neighbors isn’t expecting a quick exit.
“I told ’em to pack for 24 days,” Neighbors said. “That’s what you gotta be thinking. If you go down there packed for less than that, that can seep into your brain. So pack like we’re gonna be there until the first week in April. Get your minds wrapped around that.
“It can wear on you. I think it’s a mistake not to talk about it. We want to be prepared for it. We’ll try to Jedi-mind trick’em some along the way. Nobody’s got the blueprint or playbook on how to successfully do it.”
No. 15 Arkansas is a four seed in the Alamo Region and will play Wright State, a 13 seed, at 1 p.m. Monday in the Frank Erwin Event Center in Austin.
The team traveled to San Antonio on Wednesday and will endure a two-day quarantine, then be sequestered for the duration of its stay under strict guidelines.
Figuring out how to manage their time and staying sharp both mentally and physically has been discussed, Neighbors said.
Practice has a different tone this week, Neighbors said. They also will discuss the situation with their male counterparts, who are currently tucked away in Indianapolis for the men’s tournament.
“The kids could sense it and they were talking about it,” Neighbors said. “This is now, it’s turn your uniforms in time. It wasn’t like that any other time during the year but it is now. We got some time to polish up what we need to polish up and be ready to play.
“Just as much as anything, mentally get prepared for the bubble that we’re hearing about … we’ve got a lot of crossover with our men’s staff, and we’ve got players who are talking to each other so we’re gonna get through it together.
“That will be a real resource for us to be able to talk to those guys who are a couple days ahead of us in the protocols.”
Neighbors has ideas to help his team while stuck in a hotel room. He already has an almost weekly card game with his senior leaders to discuss team business, but Neighbors and his staff will have other activities arranged to keep the players’ minds sharp.
It will be a homecoming for senior Amber Ramirez, who grew up in San Antonio. She’s looking forward to it even though there won’t be any family time due to the covid-19 protocols.
“It’s a great feeling, an exciting feeling to be in my home city,” said Ramirez, who played her last two seasons at Arkansas after transferring from TCU. “My family gets to come and see me play, that’s definitely a strong feeling.”
She and some of her teammates will pass the time playing video games, but Ramirez admitted it will be different after the Razorbacks traveled the day of the game throughout the season.
“It’ll be a little weird for sure, you can’t go hang out in the lobby but the coaching staff has come up with some stuff for us to have a little bit of fun,” Ramirez said.
Neighbors is going to introduce them to a favorite new TV show, not to mention dust off a few old board games. And there’s always cards.
“We’ll watch an episode of ‘Ted Lasso,’ maybe have a Phase 10 tournament,” Neighbors said. “Maybe some cornhole. Nobody can beat me and Coach Todd [Schaefer], though. I know that.”
The team’s mental health will be as important as the physical part for his team to be successful in the unusual situation, Neighbors said.
“There’s gonna be teams in San Antonio that just get tired and just go, ‘Ya know what? We’ve reached our point of happiness,’ ” Neighbors said. “Teams are gonna run out of patience. They are gonna run out of energy. They’re gonna say, ‘Hey, we had a good year. I’m satisfied.’ And it’s gonna show up when you hit the floor.
“I want to make sure if we lose because we go 7 for 31, no problem. But I don’t want it to be because we’re tired and we don’t want to be there anymore.”
Jailyn Mason, a senior who is in her fifth season in Fayetteville, said Ramirez has been hyped and the team wants to help make her stay a long one.
“All year long Amber is talking about, ‘I can’t wait to get back to San Antonio, all my friends and family are gonna be there,’ ” Mason said. “So it’s really exciting to be able to see that excitement in one of our teammates and work hard for her. We want her to stay and have her family enjoy that time with her.”
There won’t be any true sightseeing during the stay in San Antonio, but Neighbors has a trick or two up his sleeve.
“I’ve read through that NCAA manual several times back and forth, and there’s nothing in there about the route the bus driver takes to and from the gym,” Neighbors said. “We may take the long way around, maybe drive by the Alamo.
“We may drive by Amber’s house. We may drive by some of her family members’ house or her high school or some places that will make it feel like home for her.”