UCA, 0-16, bent on shoring up foundation

CONWAY -- One of the worst teams in Division I men's basketball practices just like any other.

On a recent weekday inside the Farris Center, the University of Central Arkansas men's basketball team split into two groups. They ran through 3-on-3 drills, then 5-on-5 drills as Coach Russ Pennell barked encouragement, instruction and criticism.

"Any time you can get the ball in the open court, go," Pennell said. "Do not wait."

A few moments later, one of his 13 first-year players committed a turnover.

"You're not a true, true freshman anymore," Pennell said. "You cannot make that mistake."

Toward the end of the two-hour workout, Pennell had softened and appeared pleased with his players' energy if not their execution. He clapped his hands and smiled as one freshman scored inside, and he spoke favorably of two guards hugging after getting tangled up underneath the basket.

The Bears are 0-16, but they aren't without resolve.

"That's a normal practice," Pennell said. "The resilience of these kids is unbelievable, and I think they understand what we're going through."

UCA is more than halfway through its season heading into Saturday's home game against Nicholls State, and it is one of only two Division I teams without a victory. Florida A&M, 0-18, is the other.

The Bears have lost twice by at least 35 points, seven times by at least 20 and have given up more points per game (85.1) than any of the 345 Division I teams.

But Pennell, hired in March to pull his alma mater out of an academic black hole, said he has been pleased with his team's attitude, which has helped him kickstart a rebuilding process that he described as "unprecedented."

"It's difficult," said guard Mike Martin, UCA's second-leading scorer at 11.8 points per game. "I understand we've got a new coach and a young team, so it's not like we're going to come in here and have a great season the first year, but it'll come along."

The reasons for UCA's current predicament can be traced back almost a year, when Athletic Director Brad Teague decided the program's academic situation was so bad that the only long-term solution was a complete restart. Because of poor academics, UCA elected not to renew scholarships for 11 players and only sophomore Ethan Lee was retained.

UCA's Academic Progress Rate score was so bad under former Coach Corliss Williamson, who left in August 2013 after three losing seasons to become an assistant with the NBA's Sacramento Kings, that the Bears were ruled ineligible last June for the 2014-2015 postseason. The complete roster overhaul also means UCA will be ineligible next season, too, unless the NCAA accepts the school's submitted waiver request.

"Are we just going to be bleeding out for a few years, or do we just go ahead and start clean?" Teague said. "It was a conversation we had with all the finalists."

So how did it get so bad?

Teague said the school gives athletes enough academic support, pointing to the fact that none of the school's other teams faces APR issues. Teague said the academic descent began when the previous staff identified the wrong type of players.

Pennell said if UCA didn't rebuild from scratch, he wasn't sure how many academically eligible players he would have when this school year started last fall.

"You have to have young men and women who want to get their degree, who go to class," Teague said. "I don't think we, for the most part, did that."

Pennell, who has been an assistant at Oklahoma State, Arizona State and Arizona and was the head coach at Grand Canyon, said that was a focus while building his first roster, which includes players from seven states and three countries.

Pennell, who was out of coaching last season while weighing an offer to coach the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, said he started recruiting before he was hired in March. He didn't have a school to pitch, but from his home in Phoenix he traveled to AAU tournaments throughout the West and contacted club and high school coaches. He found players in just about every way one could imagine.

Jordan Howard, a freshman point guard averaging a team-best 14.8 points per game, was almost a certainty in that his father was once Pennell's strength coach. Joel Fiegler, who has started 11 games, is a transfer from Phoenix College.

Forward Jake Zuilhof of Azle, Texas, played for Pennell at Grand Canyon for one season and was redshirted another. By the time Pennell arrived at UCA, Zuilhof's playing time at Grand Canyon had diminished and he had already graduated. So he transferred to UCA and was immediately eligible because he had earned his degree already.

Albert Christensson, a native of Sweden, sent Pennell his tape during the summer, and Pennell's promise of early playing time convinced him to cancel visits to Valparaiso and Idaho.

"With our recruits, I tell them: We're not very good, that's why I'm recruiting you," said Pennell, a former guard at UCA and Arkansas. "They'd ask, 'Who am I playing behind?' I have no idea. I have no roster."

Pennell has never second guessed his decision to rebuild even as the losses pile up.

The biggest lump came from an old friend, Brad Underwood, whose Stephen F. Austin team beat UCA 109-58 on Jan. 13 at the Farris Center in Conway. Underwood praised Pennell afterward for jumping feet-first into such a rebuilding project, which is similar to what Underwood said he experienced as an assistant at South Carolina.

"People don't put enough value on experience and leadership," Underwood said. "Russ doesn't have anybody to turn to. Not only is he having to coach the team, he's having to lead the team. That's a very challenging and daunting task."

Pennell said he sees technical improvement, but he wants to see more toughness from his team than anything else. The 2008-2009 Arizona team that Pennell led to the Sweet 16 as an interim coach had toughness, as did his final two teams at Grand Canyon, which were a combined 42-16 before he was fired in favor of former NBA star Dan Majerle.

Pennell said he believes the team is headed in the right direction, even though progress may not seem obvious at this point. He compares the experiment to starting a new program from scratch, although he hopes that isn't how it's remembered.

"I didn't come to UCA to finish in the middle of the pack. That's not my nature," Pennell said. "I want to win the Southland Conference. Will we do that? Don't know. But we're going to try.

"I certainly won't settle for mediocrity."

Sports on 01/21/2015