Coaching fun again for Nutt

After coaching at the NCAA Divison I level and playing in the NBA, Dennis Nutt said he is happy to be coaching at Ouachita Baptist.
After coaching at the NCAA Divison I level and playing in the NBA, Dennis Nutt said he is happy to be coaching at Ouachita Baptist.

— Dennis Nutt has played, coached and scouted at the highest levels of college and professional basketball, so why does he sound so happy about coaching tiny Ouachita Baptist at the Division II level?

“It’s really good because they let you relax and go out and coach,” Nutt, 49, said. “There’s not the pressure that comes with the Division I level such as marketing and the other headaches. I’m having a good time with it and it’s nice to have good support from Athletic Director David Sharp and President Rex Horne.

“This state can call you home. I needed a job and my daughters [Macy and Mycha] needed a place to go to school, so we ended up at Ouachita Baptist.”

And Nutt, who spoke Monday at the Downtown Tip-Off Club on Monday at the Wyndham Riverfront hotel in North Little Rock, has reasons to be feeling good these days. His team is 10-7 overall, 6-5 in the Great American Conference and is riding a three-game winning streak after beating Southern Arkansas 68-61 Saturday.

“We’re in the middle of the pack,” said Nutt, the youngest of four Nutt brothers (Houston, Dicky and Danny are the others). “This is a very competitive league and one that is fun to watch.”

OBU is tied for fourth with Arkansas-Monticello, Southeastern Oklahoma State and Southwestern Oklahoma State in the second-year GAC, which Nutt compared to the old Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference, describing it as “the old AIC on steroids with the Oklahoma schools thrown in.”

This season’s team is on a similar path as Nutt’s first OBU team, which went 16-12 overall, 8-8 in the GAC.

“We’ve had some good moments this year,” Nutt said of the Tigers, who are averaging 70.8 points per game and shooting 44.9 percent from the field. “Defensively, I feel like we’re turning the corner.”

The Tigers are yielding 64.8 points per game, holding opponents to 38.5-percent shooting from the field and forcing 17.0 turnovers per game.

Nutt’s second OBU team is rooted with five players from Arkansas, including its top three scorers: Austin Mitchell (13.8 points per game) from Conway, second-leading scorer Colt Fason (10.9 points per game) from Conway and Michael Morris (10.2 points per game) from Little Rock via Colby (Kan.) Community College. Two other Arkansans on the roster are 5-10 senior guard Tyler Gattin from Benton and 5-11 sophomore Micah Delph from Conway, who transferred from Stephen F. Austin.

Nutt said he prefers to target recruiting toward high school players, but is open to adding junior-college players for an instant need and Division-I players, who are looking for a place to which to transfer.

“In recruiting, a lot of players usually have their eyes on a Division-I school, so you usually wait until the spring to fill out your roster,” Nutt said. “When you sign a Division-I player, he is usually looking for playing time and knows why he’s coming here.”Did you know Dennis Nutt ...

Played one season in the NBA (1986-1987) with the Dallas Mavericks, where he averaged 2.3 points per game in 25 games. “I had great seats right next to Coach Dick Motta. After watching those players in person, it was a dream come true to see them in person.”

Set TCU record by shooting 91.7 percent from the free-throw line as a senior. He ended up with 1,192 career points, averaging more than 17.0 points per game during his junior and senior seasons.

Ended up at TCU instead of Arkansas because he was not actively recruited by the Razorbacks. “My dad was pushing to get me there, but there wasn’t any room with Alvin Robertson and Darrell Walker.”

Dennis Nutt at a glance

AGE 49 HOMETOWN Little Rock

HIGH SCHOOL LR Central COLLEGE TCU (scored 1,192 career points) FAMILY Wife Vicki; daughters Macy and Mycha

COACHING RESUME Assistant at Division I Coastal Carolina and Arkansas State, assistant at Arkansas-Fort Smith and head coach at Texas State, where he was 70-97 from 2000-2006, leaving after a 3-24 season in 2005-2006.

PRO EXPERIENCE Played one season with the Dallas Mavericks (1986-1987), one season in Spain (1989-1990) and has served as a scout for the Charlotte Bobcats.

Sports, Pages 15 on 01/29/2013

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