2 U of A's : 2 different outcomes!

[deserthog]

I can't find another basketball program that has the same history with Arkansas and has gone in totally diferent directions. Both had Hall of Fame coaches that brought them into great prominance in the 90's. This is discounting the Eddie Sutton years, so Arkansas had a big head start. In the 90's there weren't any two programs that were moe successfull than Arkansas and Arizona. Check it out. It's amazing how they mirrored each other in w's and l's and tournament appearances. They even had quite a rivalry in head-to-head battles. I should point out that the state of Arizona seldom has any elite basketball players as far as recruiting. So when Lute Olson retired in 2007 Arizona hired  Kevin O'Neill and Russ Pennell for two years waiting for their perfect fit of a coach, which was Sean Miller of Xavier, who had taken his team to 4 out of 5 years at Xavier. He didn't come cheap, over 3 mil. In his 7 years he has taken Arizona to 3 elite 8's, 2 sweet 16's and a first round. He recruits only 5 star players and they are from all over the country. He also gets 5 star players from out of the country. I guess what I'm pointing out is that Arkansas has more tradition and history than other teams that are totally out-performing them today. It's all on the coach.

[hogwood]

Really good point and comparison. Arizona is a good program. I used to live out there and still follow them to an degree (mainly in March when Arkansas is nowhere to be seen).

I wish we had hired Bill Self and/or that Dana Altman had stayed. What a difference it would be.

[Kevin]

That is why you go get Sean's brother