Conway Christian girls basketball coach heading to Clinton

After five years at the helm of the Conway Christian School program, Jeremy Carson is the new girls basketball coach at Clinton.

Carson, 34, started his new job June 9. He replaces Ricky Cooper, who has moved into an administrative position.

“It’s a great situation,” Carson said. “The players are there. Coach Cooper had done a good job with them. They’re well developed, experienced, and there’s a future there.”

Carson’s final CCS team went 21-10, finishing third in the 2A-4 East Conference, winning the district tournament and taking third in the Class 2A West Regional. The Lady Eagles ended their season in the opening round of the Class 2A State Tournament with a 54-51 loss to Buffalo Island Central.

Four seniors graduated in a class with whom Carson had developed a deep bond.

“Walking off the floor at the state tournament, there was a feeling of finality,” he said. “For the previous four years, I’d always thought we were working toward something the next year, and I always knew where we were going to start back.

“But I didn’t have that feeling this year. Maybe it was the group of kids graduating, but I had that feeling this was going to be it. I didn’t know yet what that meant.”

Serendipity seems to have played a part in getting him to the next chapter of his life.

He didn’t actively look around for a new position, although he said he interviewed for a couple of jobs. Instead, the Clinton position “pretty much fell in my lap,” he said.

Clinton had already hired a coach, who wound up backing out of the job. Carson and his family were vacationing at Disney World in early June when he got a message from CCS Principal Billy Crow, who had grown up in Clinton and played basketball under Andy Vining, now the superintendent there.

“After the other guy backed out, Mr. Vining said, ‘These kids need to be practicing; we need a coach,’” Carson said. “Mr. Crow knew that I’d looked around. He was not only my principal but also my friend, and he asked me if I was interested.”

Crow was the go-between, and Carson’s initial interview with Vining was by phone while he and his family were still in Orlando, Florida.

They returned home June 7; he interviewed at Clinton on June 8 and started work June 9.

“What meant the most to me was that Coach Vining wanted Patti (Carson’s wife) in on the interview,” Carson said. “He wanted it to be good for our family. It’s not just my decision; it’s everybody’s decision. It’s going to require a move for us.

“After we left, Patti said, ‘You’ve got to take it; you’re going to love it.’ We fell in love with the people we interacted with.”

He said that when Vining called afterward, Carson told him, “I have my practice plan ready to go tomorrow.”

Carson commuted between Clinton and his home in Vilonia working out his new teams — junior high as well as senior high — until the Arkansas Activities Association’s two-week dead period began June 22.

He will also serve as assistant track coach. At press time, he was unsure of his teaching assignment.

Crow called Carson “an all-around good guy” who joined a CCS senior-class trip, drove a bus, and taught history and driver’s education.

“He’s going to be really successful,” Crow said. “He’s a great coach who cares about the kids. I have lots of good things to say about him.

“There’s a lot of good people in Van Buren County. That’s still home to me, and I told him I’ll get up there for a game, sit behind the bench and try to heckle him.”

Patti Carson will leave her position in admissions at Arkansas State University-Beebe. Carson said they would move once they know where she’ll be working. Their son, Jonathan, 6, will begin first grade in Clinton. The couple’s daughter, Kelsey, is 3.

Carson came to CCS from an academic advising position at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, where he had previously worked as an assistant women’s basketball coach under Ron Marvel and later Checola Seals-Horton. Carson earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at UCA.

“If I didn’t publicly thank Conway Christian for my five years there, it would be wrong,” Carson said. “They took a chance on me and allowed me to cut my teeth as a coach. Those five classes of athletes had a tremendous impact on my life. I am forever thankful for the Conway Christian community and the school.”

In five seasons at CCS, Carson’s record was 53-72, including a 1-22 campaign his second year.

“The cupboard was absolutely bare,” he said. “Without that season, the record is a lot better.”

His teams won one district title in senior high and had two district championships and one runner-up finish in junior high.

“It’s a pretty strong program,” Carson said. “And there will be a lot of talent returning. I feel like I’m leaving the program in pretty good shape for the next coach.”

Carson said that in his interview experiences he was asked where he saw himself in the next five, 10 and 15 years.

“I don’t have a road map,” he said. “I hope Clinton is that destination and that we can be there long-term. It’s a great community in a beautiful area of the state with lots of stuff to do.”

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