Little Rock Parkview coach Scotty Thurman wouldn’t exactly call himself a man of many faces because what you see from him is generally what you get, but that’s not to say the 48-year-old doesn’t wear an abundance of hats.
The Ruston, La., native wears plenty.
On the surface, there’s the former University of Arkansas basketball star who’ll forever be lauded for hitting what turned out to be the game-winning shot in the 1994 NCAA title game against Duke that enabled the Razorbacks to win their only national championship in basketball.
There’s the everyday father of two who doesn’t mind engaging in good-natured back and-forth-banter on social media with locals or even guys like former Duke and NBA All-Star Grant Hill.
And then there’s the fiery, no nonsense, sideline motivator who’s not afraid to speak out and stand up for his team whenever he feels the need. But there’s a bit more than meets the eye when it comes to Thurman.
The same can be said for his Patriots, who’ve gone from being a group that struggled with consistency for the first month and a half of the season to one that’s got the look of a legitimate title contender.
Parkview (17-12) will get a chance to continue its transformation this week when the Class 5A state tournament gets underway at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. The Patriots won’t play their first-round game until Thursday against Lake Hamilton, a team they know alot about, but don’t expect Thurman’s troops to relax much beforehand, especially not with the way they’re playing.
The Patriots have won seven consecutive games and eight of their last nine overall. Prior to that, they’d dropped three of four, including a 61-42 decision at home to Little Rock Catholic. But Parkview’s turnaround may not have happened by accident.
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There was somewhat of an identity crisis that the Patriots had to wrestle with before they were able to right their ship.
“We lost five seniors from last year and really had just three guys coming back that played a lot,” Thurman said. “We had Dallas [Thomas] coming up as a junior, had Carson Backus and Nate Coley as the two seniors, but none of them had ever had to be in a leadership role. And I think that took some adjustments from not only them but also from me and the staff as well because you think you know how people are going to react when they’re put in a leadership position based off their character. But sometimes, it’s still some things that need to be worked out in order to lead a group.
“Those guys had to learn how to lead, but throughout that process, you also find out who else is capable in that leadership role. A guy like Drake Marbley, who’s stepped up and shouldered some of that leadership. … we learned a lot about this group during the ups and downs early.”
Parkview lost six of its first 10 games, but to put into perspective just how up and down the Patriots actually were, two of those victories were against a pair of Class 6A powerhouses in Little Rock Central and North Little Rock. Injuries also factored into the team’s slow start.
Marbley, Backus and Christian Sanson, a 6-9 senior, missed multiple games due to ailments, as did their top player in Thomas, another 6-9 wing who holds offers from Power 5 programs such as Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.
Thurman even revealed that Coley has been battling different bumps and bruises over the course of the season.
“There were probably half of our games where we never had all of our guys, we were always missing one or two,” he said. “Of course, that’s no excuse, but it was another adjustment piece, especially when you’ve had the Cam Wallaces, the Jeff Kamangas, the J.K. Sanders that had that leadership as seniors. It was a different pulse with that group after coaching them for two years, and in the case of some of the others, three years.
“There was some newness with this team, even though some were holdovers. The injuries only added to the adjustments that we were already experiencing.”
On top of everything Parkview was enduring, it still had to confront a brutal non-conference schedule. Before they got into the meat of 5A-Central play, the Patriots faced eight teams from Georgia, Texas or Missouri, not to mention other games against Lake Hamilton and Pine Bluff — two teams ranked among the top 5 in Class 5A — as well as 6A playoff participant Bryant.
The Patriots continued to experience highs and lows once they got in conference play and were sitting at 9-13 after a 58-55 loss at Vilonia on Jan. 24, but that was the last time Parkview lost.
“We’re healthier now,” Thurman said. “Guys are also starting to embrace the fact that we’ve been battle-tested. When I put the schedule together, I knew it’d be tough going to play teams from different states with a new group. But I think those games, on top of all the injuries, have prepared us to this point.
“Look at us last year. We go 24-4, win 16 straight, get to the tournament, win one and then next game, we’re out. The year before that, we come into the tournament hot, win two games, and then the next game we’re out. We try to get these guys to tune in and approach it game by game, opponent by opponent and let the chips fall where they may.”
Things have definitely fallen in the Patriots’ favor lately.
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The team’s average margin of victory during its current seven-game run is nearly 11 points, and that includes victories over three teams that it had previously lost to, and they are getting ample contributions from a number of players, particularly Coley.
The 5-10 guard has a reputation for being one of Parkview’s top defenders, but his offense has moved to the forefront, namely in the biggest of moments. A prime example of that is when he knocked down two huge shots in the final minute against Vilonia on Feb. 21, including the game-winner at the buzzer, to lift the Patriots to a 49-47 win.
“His sense of urgency has really increased,” Thurman said. “He’s kind of an underdog in a sense because in his eyes, he feels he doesn’t get a lot of the recognition that he deserves, and I agree with him. Obviously I’m biased, but I think he’s one of the best, if not the best, point guard in the state.
“He’s figured out that he wants to take this thing to the next level in college, and he puts the work in to do that. Probably over the last month, he’s come in and set an example for the younger kids on how to work. He’s played against the Nick Smiths, the Devo Davis’, the Carl Daughterys. … he’s battled since ninth grade, and he works at it.”
The work Coley has put in behind the scenes goes hand-in-hand with what Thurman has done at Parkview, a lot of which has gone unnoticed. He’s instituted the breakfast club, where players come in early to work on shooting, while consistently preaching to his team just how important the academic side of being a student-athlete is.
That, in turn, has led to him staying on his players to ensure classroom assignments are done and meetings with tutors or academic advisors are set.
“The accountability and relationships are big to me,” he revealed. “I look up three times this year, maybe more, and Kamanga is standing in the lines with our guys. Guys like Jaylon Thomas Miller, Darius Miller, they come back and help pour into the program. For me, that’s all I need because I know my heart is in the right place, and I’m trying to do things the right way.”
The right way has been the best way for the Patriots, who’ll be trying to win their first state title since 2018. Thurman knows it won’t be easy by any stretch, but he’s also believes his guys have what it takes to give themselves a chance against anyone.
Considering the adversity they’ve faced this season, he’s got a reason to be confident.
“It’s tough with social media nowadays when people start questioning how good you are as a team, how good you are as an individual or for me, how good you are as a coach,” Thurman noted. “They read all the social media, and the kids see the positive and negative things that are said. But they’ve done a good job of being able to just block everything out.
“About a month and a half ago, everybody had kind of written us off, thinking that we weren’t going to be one of those teams to possibly make the state tournament, much less have the opportunity to compete for a state championship.
“But this group started to zone in and realize they’ve got a chance to do something special.”