MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama men’s basketball players and interim head coach Jeff Price said Thursday they were caught off guard by Ronnie Arrow’s retirement, which Arrow announced to the team Wednesday shortly before it was made public.
Players said Arrow walked in as they prepared for what they expected to be a routine day, gathered the team, told them he was retiring effective immediately, then went around the room shaking each player’s hand before leaving.
‘It Didn’t Seem Real’
Augustine Rubit said the timing added to the surprise. The Jaguars were coming off a win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, where Arrow coached before returning for his second stint at South Alabama.
“I was shocked because we just came off a win,” Rubit told AL.com. “And we were just looking forward to getting better and bringing more wins for him in the conference. It was just surprising that it happened all of a sudden.”
“We were all shocked,” he said. “Going through the year, you knew you had coach Arrow as the head coach. That’s all you expect. I know we have some really good coaches who are stepping in. In some ways, it’s the same thing as him. I feel like we still have good coaches.”
Rubit said the players could tell something serious was coming before Arrow spoke.
“He came in, it was serious. Everybody put their phones down. We were thinking it’s like a normal day, (we’d) watch film. And he said it and it didn’t seem real. He said it, shook our hands and walked out. It didn’t seem real at all.”
“It was kind of awkward, just sitting back thinking about what the first game will be like without him,” Rubit added. “But I feel like all the coaches taught the same thing and followed him so we’ll see how it happens and how it goes.”
No Time for Questions
Javier Carter said the meeting was brief and that it came without warning as the team got ready for practice.
“He just walked in and he told us all that he wasn’t going to be our coach anymore and that he was proud of us and that he wishes us well on the future of the season,” Carter said. “We were just all stunned, honestly. Everybody was just in awe because we didn’t know what to expect. It was just out of the blue because we were getting ready for practice.”
Carter said none of the players had sensed that Arrow was unhappy or considering stepping down. He added that the meeting ended so quickly that no one had a chance to ask Arrow about his reasons.
“None of us has talked to him to my knowledge,” Carter said. “He came in and he talked to us and he greeted us all around the room and that was about it.”
Carter said the team is comfortable with Price in charge.
“Coach Price as an assistant, we’ve really enjoyed him. He’s a players’ coach and a coach coach,” Carter said. “We really enjoy coach Price and we believe if anybody else is for the job, it’s definitely him.”
“Everybody has their ups and downs, like anybody does as a head coach, but we all loved coach Arrow and we enjoyed him as a coach,” he said.
Price: ‘Took Us All a Little by Surprise’
Athletic director Joel Erdmann named Price, the associate head coach, interim head coach at Wednesday’s news conference. Speaking with reporters Thursday for the first time since the announcement, Price said he was as surprised as anyone.
“It was rather abrupt and took us all a little by surprise,” Price said. “Particularly me. I’ve known Ronnie for over 20 years. I think it took us all by surprise a little bit but I think up to this point everyone has handled it well and understands that we have to move forward and get back on track and do what we have to do.”
Price said he returned to South Alabama with the goal of one day leading the program, but not under these circumstances.
“You never want things to happen this way,” he said. “I came back to South Alabama because I wanted to be the head coach here one day, which is why I came back here. But obviously you want to come back and be the head coach after we go to the (NCAA) tournament and Ronnie retires. That’s been different and difficult just because of my respect for him and our relationship. But I’m sure Ronnie understands as well, and wishes me the best of luck and obviously the players he was close to as well the best of luck.”
As of Thursday, Price said he had not spoken with Arrow about the decision.
“I’m sure he had his reasons (for retiring now), whatever they are, and I try not to speculate,” Price said. “I’m sure a lot of people try to speculate and at this point, but obviously he felt like it was time to do that (retire).”
Price’s Background
This is Price’s fourth stint as a head coach. He has a career record of 318-188 over 17 seasons as a head coach at Lynn (1993-99), Georgia Southern (1999-2009) and West Virginia Wesleyan (2010-11).
Price is also in his second stint at South Alabama. He was an assistant under Arrow with the Jaguars from 1989 to 1993, and his other assistant coaching stops include Washington, Georgia Southern, Union (Ky.) and Pikeville (Ky.).
Price takes over a team that is 5-5 overall and 2-0 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Jaguars opened the season with a win over Florida State, which was ranked at the time.
Focus on the Players
Price will coach the rest of the season with a permanent hire to follow, but he said he does not view the stretch as an audition.
“I think you have to stay away from yourself and understand this is about these guys,” Price said. “These guys have worked so hard. We’ve been at this even back to the summer when we went to Canada. We’ve been working for six or seven months and it’s about them right now. My situation will be taken care of based on how things go and it’s all about them and how they perform and present themselves, and I think we’ve got a great group of guys and they’ll do that.”
He said fans should not expect major changes in how the Jaguars play.
“I don’t think, because we’ve been at it so long, that you can make drastic changes,” Price said. “You’ll see some changes in regard to maybe how we approach the game, not so much what we do on the floor. We might open the floor up a little bit more. I respect coach Arrow and I learned from him in everything that he did. I think if anything changes you’ll see maybe some changes in our approach to the game and game day and practice and things like that more than you will, in particular, on the court.”
Price said team morale has held up.
“It’s hard to tell (how the decision may have affected them immediately). Morale has been good to this point. I think our guys are mature enough to understand that this is part of the business,” he said. “I’ve been doing this 30 years and this is just part of the business. People come and people go and you learn to circle the wagons and start over and regroup and I think after we get past this our guys will be excited. We’ve got a talented bunch of guys and I really like our team. I think we have a chance to have a special year, we’ve just got to get past this and regroup.”
“We have a goal in mind. This isn’t about me. This is about this university and these players and the success they know they can have,” Price said. “I think our team has a lot of promise and they know that and they’re smart enough to know you can’t let things drag on, you’ve got to get back to work. Hopefully, we’ll see that on Saturday.”
Next Up
South Alabama hosts Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday in its first game since Arrow’s retirement. Tipoff is set for 2:05 p.m. at the Mitchell Center.
