Jimmy Dykes knew there was going to be an adjustment moving out from behind a television monitor to become the new women’s basketball coach at Arkansas.
Even though Dykes last worked as a college basketball coach in 1990-91 with the Oklahoma State men’s team, he said his first job as a women’s basketball head coach has met all of his expectations 14 games into his first season back in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
“I told them the first day that I was going to coach them like a basketball player,” said Dykes, who worked as a college basketball analyst at ESPN from 1993-2014. “It wasn’t like there was a male or a female basketball player and they have embraced that. I expected their coachability would be very, very high, and it is. I don’t see a sense of entitlement like I did in the men’s game. There is not one minute I still wish I was working at ESPN or coaching in the men’s game. I know I am exactly where God wants me to be.”
Dykes will be in Starkville at 8 tonight to lead Arkansas (10-4, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) against No. 14 Mississippi State (17-0, 2-0) at Humphrey Coliseum. Fox Sports Net South will broadcast the game live.
The game will be the second of three-consecutive games against ranked opponents. Arkansas opened the league schedule with a 71-55 loss to Ole Miss on Friday in Oxford. It then lost to then-No. 5 Texas A&M 52-50 on a last-second shot in Fayetteville. Arkansas is one of only five teams in the SEC (Alabama, Auburn, Missouri, and Vanderbilt) to open conference play with three of its first four games against ranked opponents.
That’s a daunting challenge for any team let alone one with a first-year coach and only nine players. But Dykes has embraced his new situation and the competition in one of the nation’s toughest conferences. Dykes had a sense of what life in the SEC was going to be like when he replaced Tom Collen as coach. Dykes was a three-year letterman on the Arkansas men’s basketball team, and he went on to graduate from the school.
As the eighth head coach in program history, Dykes’ job is to restore the tradition of a program that advanced to only one NCAA tournament in the past seven seasons. He hopes to accomplish that goal with a hard-nosed, aggressive style of play that recruits athletic players. His slogan “Be Arkansas” is focused on finding the best players in the state of Arkansas and getting them to become Lady Razorbacks.
Dykes said he doesn’t pull any punches when he talks about the program’s goals. He admitted Arkansas is a “long, long way” from where he wants it to be and that it is going to take time. But he said his players have to know he is willing to love them as much as he is willing to work them hard. He believes that fact is more important on the women’s side. On the men’s side, he said coaches can almost “force” their players to work hard, which is a big difference.
“I am very honest in my approach and in the accountability the players have to have to what we’re doing, the goals of the program, and how we’re growing it,” Dykes said. “That goes beyond being a good team right now. We’re not a top-25 program. There are a lot of things we have to get on top of and correct and things we have to do on a day-to-day basis on and off the floor. We have to conduct ourselves with high character players. I want those things to create and to sustain a program year after year after year.”
Dykes said his players have given him everything in pursuit of those goals. He said Arkansas has played like he expects Arkansas players to play in 11 of the 14 games. He said all of his players have adjusted to his style and his expectations and have improved. He admits it hasn’t been easy because everything is brand new to them, but he is excited for the future because all of the players are helping to establish a foundation for the future.
Sophomore Kelsey Brooks leads Arkansas and the SEC in scoring at 16.5 points per game. Sophomore Jessica Jackson, a preseason All-SEC selection, is second on the team and fourth in the SEC in scoring (14.9 ppg.). Senior Jhasmin Bowen (11.5 ppg.) also averages in double figures. Jackson and Brooks lead the team in 3-pointers with 26 and 25, respectively. MSU is first in the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage (20 percent).
“Both of them have made a lot of strides in areas of the game,” Dykes said. “The challenge for Jessica Jackson every day is to be more than a 3-point shooter. I have been on her every day about being a better and more consistent runner, a better rebounder, and a much better defender. Those are all things a top-level player has to be. She has made really good strides in those areas.
“It is the same thing with Kelsey Brooks. Kelsey is much more than a scorer for us. She is a good on-ball defender, she rebounds well, and offensively she can drive it and get fouled.”
Just like his team, Dykes said Jackson and Brooks have room to grow. Considering it is only 14 games into his first season, Dykes has been pleased with the improvement to this point and is looking forward to helping Arkansas take bigger steps in the future.
“It is going to take time to build Arkansas into a top-25 program, but I am 14 games into the next 10 years of my life,” Dykes said.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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