Newell exits after meeting

LITTLE ROCK — Mike Newell’s up-and down coaching career has taken a downward turn.

Newell resigned Monday after nine seasons at Division II Arkansas-Monticello, ending his second stint coaching college basketball in Arkansas. Newell had coached at UALR from 1984-1990, leading the Trojans to three NCAA Tournament appearances and two appearances in the NIT.

Newell is best known for leading UALR to a first-round NCAA Tournament upset of third-seeded Notre Dame in 1986.

Chris Ratcliff, Arkansas-Monticello’s first-year athletic director, said Newell’s resignation came after a meeting with Newell, Ratcliff and university Chancellor Jack Lassiter.

“Year after year, every coach is evaluated,” Ratcliff said. “We all had different visions.”

Newell did not return multiple phone messages asking for comment.

Ratcliff ’s official position is that Newell resigned, though little points to why he would leave on his own. The Boll Weevils were competitive in 2009-2010, making the Gulf South Conference Tournament and being the only team to beat No. 1 Arkansas Tech in the regular season.

Newell was 126-123 in Monticello, reaching the Division II Sweet 16 in 2006 and leading Arkansas-Monticello to a school best No. 5 ranking in the national polls.

Newell answered to Ratcliff for a year, but the two were familiar with each other, with Ratcliff having come on board in 2006 as the women’s basketball coach. Lassiter had also been chancellor when Newell was hired.

When pressed, Ratcliff said “The official thing is Newell’s resigning.”

Newell has been known for raising his voice and using coarse language in his coaching since his days at UALR, and he didn’t change later in his career. Neither did the problems that followed him.

Though the 1986 victory got Newell a job offer at Marquette, he stayed in Little Rock until 1990, when he left for Lamar. Three years later, Newell resigned from the Beaumont, Texas, school, having been accused of abusing players physically and psychologically.

In his resignation letter to Lamar President Rex Cottle, Newell said “Although I strongly disagree with these allegations, because of them, I feel it is impossible for me to effectively perform my work.”

Newell eventually resurfaced with the Shreveport Crawdads of the Continental Basketball Association, but that too unraveled. Newell moved to the team’s front office in 1995 after a 8-21 start to the season.

According to a Feb. 5, 1995 article in the Democrat-Gazette, Newell had been in shouting matches with several of his players. The story quoted Crawdads center Damon Key as saying “Player and coach relationships weren’t what they should be, but that’s basketball.”

Newell’s hiring at Arkansas-Monticello in 2001 had all the appearances of a last chance, and his nine-year run coupled with the postseason success of 2006 suggested he was making the most of it.

Newell was even honored by Lassiter and Ratcliff after winning his 300th career game in February over Henderson State, and had said repeatedly he would not leave Arkansas-Monticello unless it was for a Division I job.

After his 300th victory, Newell joked that his coaching methods hadn’t changed much.

“Nobody has been without a tongue-lashing,” Newell said.

Whatever prompted Newell’s departure, Ratcliff now faces the most high-profile hire of his short tenure as an administrator. Ratcliff said he hopes to have a coach in place no later than June 1.

“You can win here, you just have to have the right philosophy in order to do it,” Newell said in an earlier interview. “UAM is a great place to live and a great place to work. We have advantages if you use them.”