It was a routine April day in 2003 when Coach Joe Foley walked into the sports information office at Arkansas Tech University and sat down.
He was mulling an offer to leave behind the renowned women’s basketball powerhouse at Arkansas Tech and accept leadership of what was then a beleaguered program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Foley talked about everything except that decision for a while. Then, after a pause and without additional context, he spoke again.
“Nobody up there,” as he pointed toward the heavens, “is going to care how many basketball games I won.”
Much will be written and said in the days following Foley’s retirement announcement on Thursday, July 18, about his 866 career wins, 456 of which came at ATU from 1987-2003. The 16 consecutive 20-win seasons at Arkansas Tech. The 13 conference titles, two NAIA national championships, two NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearances, one NCAA Division II national runner-up finish and six national tournament semifinal berths with the Golden Suns. The unprecedented heights to which he led the UALR program. A coaching tree of former players and assistant coaches that has helped further elevate basketball in the Natural State and beyond.
It is a record that makes him the most consequential figure in women’s basketball history in his home state of Arkansas and one of this state’s all-time greatest coaches regardless of sport.
His basketball philosophy was rooted in the teachings of Bobby Knight….man-to-man defense and motion offense…but his game day demeanor was more reminiscent of John Wooden.
Practice was Foley’s classroom. The games were more about the players, although it seems likely his commentary to his assistant coaches from that familiar seated pose with his hand in front of his mouth was equal parts insightful and hilarious.
And all of it was made possible by a twist of fate.
When Marty Barnes was hired as the head men’s basketball coach at Arkansas Tech in 1987, he brought his assistant coach, Dave Falconer, with him from Russellville High School.
Barnes and Falconer went on to write considerable ATU basketball history of their own with the Wonder Boys, but their arrival knocked Foley out of a job. He had been the assistant coach under previous ATU head men’s basketball coach John Widner prior to Widner’s retirement.
As it turned out, Foley’s search for his next job led him about 100 feet away to the other side of Tucker Coliseum.
Shortly after Barnes and Falconer were hired, Jim Dickerson, who had led the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns basketball program to its first NAIA National Tournament semifinal appearance during the 1986-87 season, resigned to accept another career opportunity. Don Sevier, ATU director of athletics, offered the women’s basketball head coach position to Foley. He accepted, and the rest is record-breaking history.
The wins and the championships accumulated by Foley are matched by a remarkable track record of graduating student-athletes and shaping lives. His lasting gift to his players isn’t his unsurpassed acumen for teaching defense or showing them how to set and use a screen. His lasting gift to his players is establishing for them what seemed like an unreachable standard and then helping them meet it.
“He made a big impact on our lives,” said Stephanie Strack Mathis, ATU’s all-time leading scorer in women’s basketball and a member of the Golden Suns’ back-to-back NAIA national championship teams in 1991-92 and 1992-93. “He kind of showed us how to be that tough love parent and how to follow through on things. He held you accountable. He didn’t care what you did the day before, the year before…he didn’t care if you were an All-American or a walk-on…if you worked your tail off, he promised you that great things would come. That’s kind of a good outlook on life. Hard work and determination will get you far in life. I owe a lot to him.”
“You know, for four years we had a love-hate relationship…we loved to hate him,” said Carin Pinion McNabb, point guard for ATU’s national championship women’s basketball teams and the Golden Suns’ all-time leader in career assists. “We didn’t understand it. Then, obviously with me going into the profession (of coaching) and getting to see a little bit different side, I totally get what he does. He is such a perfectionist…such a detail-oriented person. I think he instilled in all of us that it doesn’t matter where you’re from, what size you are…if you’ll give me everything you’ve got and pay attention to the details, you can be successful in any walk of life.”
Above all else, one thing reveals the content of Foley’s character.
It would be human nature, would it not, to hold at least some ill will toward a person who displaced you from a job?
Well, to the best of my knowledge, Joe Foley has never had a better friend than Dave Falconer. So much so that when Foley faced a challenging regional final against the University of Arkansas at Monticello in 1998, it was Falconer who stayed up late with him to help devise a surprise three-quarter court press defense.
The Golden Suns jumped out to a 27-4 lead before the Cotton Blossoms knew what hit them. Tech rolled to an 84-53 win and the NCAA Division II South Region championship.
That was a fun day. Coach Foley gave us a lot of fun days at Arkansas Tech.
He was right. There are more important things than winning basketball games. Husband to Chris. Father to C.J. and Miranda. Mentor to hundreds of former players. Friend to colleagues from across the spectrum of basketball and collegiate athletics. Those are the things that will go on forever.
But as he enters retirement, Coach Foley can do so with the knowledge that he was as good as there ever was at getting the most out of his players and his teams. He can do so with the knowledge that he did it the right way.
And he can do so with the knowledge that he is on the short list of the most successful coaches in the history of women’s college basketball.
Tech Tidbits is a column written by Sam Strasner, ATU director of university relations and radio play-by-play voice for ATU football and basketball.
