FAYETTEVILLE — Senior guard Lyndsay Harris has seen a lot during her four years playing basketball at Arkansas.
One thing she hasn’t seen a lot of is big crowds at Walton Arena.
While the Razorbacks have been on what Coach Tom Collen hopes is a program-changing eight-game SEC winning streak, that hasn’t led to a substantial attendance boost.
Arkansas (19-5, 8-4 SEC) goes for its ninth consecutive SEC victory at 7 tonight when it plays host to LSU (17-8, 7-5) at Walton Arena. The Razorbacks have won three consecutive games against the Tigers, including 72-52 in Baton Rouge on Jan. 22.
The Razorbacks are averaging 2,033 in paid attendance for 14 regular-season home games, but estimated actual attendance has been far less at 1,364. Paid attendance is up 148 per game from last season, but estimated actual attendance is down 109 from last year, when Arkansas finished 22-12 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the WNIT.
In Collen’s five years, paid attendance has averaged between 1,793 and 2,426, the latter occurring in his first year.
Collen said he understands the fans’ reluctance because of Arkansas’ struggles in recent years and the poor economy.
“The fans will be there for us, I firmly believe that,” Collen said. “Once we flip this thing, the fans will be there. They will come back.”
Arkansas’ average attendance figures this season fall to 1,609 paid and 878 estimated actual when two games are removed. The Razorbacks brought in a couple thousand elementary school students for the Texas-Arlington game (estimated attendance: 3,300), and many Tennessee fans showed up in orange to see the Lady Volunteers (estimated attendance: 5,258).
It’s a far cry from the heady days under former coach Gary Blair. In 1997-1998, the year Arkansas reached the Final Four, average attendance was 5,061 per game and the Razorbacks drew a record 14,163 for the WNIT championship game against Wisconsin in 1999.
“We definitely notice when there’s not a lot of people in the crowd. But at the same time, we’re playing for each other,” Harris said. “Arkansas is a very fan-based school, but we do realize that a lot of that is based on the men’s program history and the football history. The fact that, right now, we’re doing so good is going to help future teams at Arkansas gain the type of respect they deserve.”
The Razorbacks have set program records for overall and consecutive SEC victories this year, and Arkansas could achieve its highest SEC finish. Arkansas is line for its first NCAA Tournament berth in Collen’s five years, which has seen Arkansas go winless in the SEC Tournament.
Collen said earlier this year he feared the Razorbacks may have lost their chance at good crowds when Tennessee crushed the Razorbacks by 31 points Jan. 8. Perhaps that was one reason the normally low key coach grabbed the public address microphone after a double-overtime victory against Florida on Jan. 29 to thank the crowd and encourage them to come back, with friends preferably.
The impassioned plea hasn’t exactly resulted in an increase. The Razorbacks drew a estimated 1,328 for the Florida game but just 847 for Alabama and 953 for No. 24 South Carolina.
“Anytime you get a good crowd in there and you can get your fans behind you ... and now I think our fans know there is something at stake,” Collen said.
Arkansas freshman Calli Berna said the home crowd helped the Razorbacks rally from 11 points down with 5 minutes left against Florida, and she said part of the responsibility for attracting crowds lies with the players to put on a good show.
With an eight-game conference winning streak, the players have seemingly done their part.
“It has been a little late in coming, but Arkansas fans are good fans,” Collen said. “They like to see a winner. We haven’t done that consistently enough for them. Now they see it and they’re excited.”
Sports, Pages 23 on 02/16/2012