Sports

SHELTON CHOSEN OVER APPLICANTS WITH SIMILAR EXPERIENCE

By Troy Schulte/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Friday, June 26, 2009 12:11 AM CDT

Arkansas-Pine Bluff athletic director Skip Perkins said he wasn’t at all bothered by Cary Shelton’s lack of head coaching experience when he announced his hiring as UAPB women’s’ basketball coach on Tuesday.

Shelton, whose three-year contract worth close to $60,000 per year will go into effect July 1, was named Danny Evans’ successor on Tuesday after serving three months as interim coach. Perkins chose Shelton over close to 20 other applicants, almost all of whom, like Shelton, have yet to be head coaches.

“I had never been an athletic director before,” said Perkins, of experience prior to his arrival at UAPB in 2007. “The majority of the coaches I’ve hired had never had head coaching experience.”

UAPB released the list of 17 applicants on Thursday, seven of whom served as Division I women’s assistants last season and three of whom have previous experience in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Stacie Vincent, who had been Danny Evans’ top assistant on the Lady Lions’ staff before his contract was not renewed after compiling a 42-78 record in five seasons, Arthur Cheers, who most recently had been a men’s basketball assistant at Jackson State, and Kevin Butler, most recently at Alcorn State, were the only candidates with SWAC experience.

Jessica Kern, who spent last season as a graduate assistant at UAPB, was one of three candidates interviewed along with Shelton, but her name was not included on the list of applicants. Perkins said the third candidate interviewed requested not to be identified.

Other applicants who were assistants at Division I programs last season were: Darryl A. Brown (Pepperdine), Norman Cooper (Mercer), Taqueta Braxton (Stephen F. Austin), who played at Arkansas in the 1990s, Paula M. Lee (Louisiana-Lafayette), Britt S. King (Appalachian State) and Gwen Butler (Chicago State).

Only two of the applicants spent last season as head coaches: Melvin Williams (Tennessee Temple) and Debra Alexander (Southern University-Shreveport).

Perkins spoke highly of the interested parties he had to choose from and even moreso of Shelton, who became the head coach at the Division I level for the first time when the more than three-month search ended earlier this week.

“I had to take time,” Perkins said. “One thing about hiring coaches, you’ve got to read their backgrounds, you’ve got to (make phone calls).

“That makes it tedious, but that’s how you find out about people.”

Shelton will take over a program that finished 12-19 overall, 10-8 in the SWAC and advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament last season. Six players will return from last year’s team, including Newcomer of the Year, Shay Holmes, who averaged 11.2 points and 7 rebounds.

Also returning are starters LaQuisha Slayton and Tashayla Jackson, who averaged 11.4 and 8 points per game, respectively, last season.

Shelton said the key to improving on that record from last season will hinge on becoming a detail-oriented team whose focus lies strongly on defense. The Lady Lions allowed 66.6 points per game last season, last in the SWAC.

“Defense will be offense for us and we’re going to really get after it,” he said.

Perkins isn’t expecting a complete turnaround in Shelton’s first year, but does expect improvements. He cited the improvements made in the men’s basketball program under first-year coach George Ivory as evidence of that. Ivory’s team won three more conference games last season than it did in 2007, the last of six seasons under coach Van Holt.

“Coach Ivory showed us that (with) a good defensive presence, good communication and some discipline that you can make things happen fast,” Perkins said. “I think coach Shelton will have a good year, too. I don’t see us taking a step back in order to go forward.”

Print this story   |   Email this story