Chris Curry was on a recruiting trip in Houston about two weeks ago when his cell phone rang.
A representative of UALR was on the other end and wanted to speak with the Northwestern (La.) State assistant coach about the school's opening for a head baseball coach.
Curry was born in Little Rock and grew up in Conway, but he hasn't spent much time in central Arkansas since he went to play at Meridian (Miss.) Community College in 1996.
It just so happened that on the day he received the call about UALR's opening, he was surrounded by assistant coaches from Texas State, Texas-Arlington and Louisiana-Lafayette -- all of whom compete against UALR in the Sun Belt Conference.
"So I turned and said, 'UALR baseball, what do you guys think?' " Curry said Tuesday. "Every one of them said there's talent there. There have been players there. You can bring them in there. That's a good job."
That call and the praise from competing assistants was the beginning of a two-week process that eventually led to Curry leaving Northwestern State for UALR, which announced his hiring Tuesday.
Curry, 36, arrived in Little Rock on Tuesday to check out his new home and sign a contract after interviewing on campus last week. That trip was his first to UALR since then-coach Gary Hogan brought him in on a recruiting visit during his senior year at Conway High School in 1996.
"I was pleasantly, pleasantly surprised," Curry said, sitting in his new office at Gary Hogan Field. "It really is a nice facility."
Curry replaces Scott Norwood, who resigned June 9 after six seasons as the Trojans' coach. Four days later, Norwood was linked to a recording that is believed to be of Norwood berating his players. The profanity-laced recording drew national attention after it was leaked to the sports website Deadspin.com and posted online.
A still unidentified source also emailed multiple allegations of potential NCAA violations to UALR, which has led the university to conduct an ongoing independent investigation into the allegations.
UALR has hired The Compliance Group, led by former NCAA director of enforcement Chuck Smrt, to look into the allegations, but no timetable for completion has been set.
Curry said the incident did not sway his interest in the UALR job and that he isn't focused on the investigation.
"We're not even looking back," Curry said. "You can't do that in any program if you're a new coach. It doesn't matter what's been going on.
"Young adults are resilient. All they want is accountability, discipline and leadership, and the freedom to play without the fear of messing up. That's what an athlete needs."
Other than the attraction of heading home -- his parents still live in Conway, one brother lives in Little Rock and another is moving to Little Rock -- Curry talked about several of the factors that led to his return. He cited UALR's location in a wealthy recruiting area and the opportunity to compete against Sun Belt Conference baseball powers Louisiana-Lafayette and South Alabama as reasons for taking the job.
"If they can do it, we can do it," Curry said in reference to Louisiana-Lafayette and South Alabama, both of which have reached the NCAA Tournament in recent years. "I believe there are resources here. ... It's just an incredible opportunity, and then you add going home, that's just icing on the cake."
Curry arrives after spending the past two seasons as the pitching coach at Northwestern State, a Southland Conference school located in Natchitoches, La. He's also spent time as an assistant at Arkansas (2009-2010) and Arkansas Tech (2008) and was the head coach at Meridian (Miss.) Community College (2011-2012).
Curry played two seasons at Meridian before transferring in 1999 to Mississippi State, where he played under current Arkansas State Coach Tommy Raffo, and spent seven seasons in the minor leagues with the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs.
UALR Athletic Director Chris Peterson said during the search that a priority was finding a coach with recruiting connections in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. Curry was selected from more than 70 applicants.
"Chris fits the profile of what was our objective at the beginning of our national search: A high-quality individual with strong recruiting ties to the southeastern region of the United States," Peterson said in a statement released through the university. "The fact that he played professionally for seven years and is a native of central Arkansas is a bonus."
Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn, who hired Curry at Arkansas in 2009, praised UALR's hire.
"I had the opportunity to coach with Chris for two years, and he proved that he was one of the top up-and-coming young coaches in college baseball," Van Horn said in a statement Tuesday. "Chris is a tireless worker that will make UALR proud."
Sports on 07/02/2014