Seventh in a series previewing members of the 2014 class who will be inducted Feb. 28 into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.
The Arkansas Tech women’s basketball team was very successful during Joe Foley’s first three seasons as head coach of the Golden Suns, averaging 32 victories per season, but that wasn’t good enough for Foley.
So Foley went down Interstate 40 to Conway - 45 miles from Russellville - to find one of the players who would get the Golden Suns over the hump in the NAIA and the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference.
Foley saw Stephanie Strack Mathis, a 5-10 forward, play at Conway St. Joseph four times during her senior season in 1989-1990.
“You couldn’t find a better pure shooter from 12-15 feet,” Foley said.
Mathis eventually signed with Arkansas Tech. Foley only offered her a half-scholarship at first, but after seeing her play AAU basketball in the summer of 1990, that changed.
“I told her mother, ‘She’ll have a full scholarship,’ ” Foley said.
Foley’s instincts paid off.
Mathis became Arkansas Tech’s all-time leading scorer (2,298 points), a three-time NAIA All-American and led the Golden Suns to two consecutive national championships. She is one of 11 inductees in this year’s Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame class.
Mathis, 41, was born and raised in Conway. Basketball was the only sport available at Conway St. Joseph, a tiny Catholic private school, though Mathis also played tennis and volleyball outside school.
At St. Joseph, Mathis scored 1,748 points and was a two-time Class B All-State player.
Arkansas Tech didn’t become a national championship team right away with Mathis. The Golden Suns were eliminated in the NAIA district tournament in Mathis’ freshman season by Central Arkansas 67-66 in Russellville.
The loss provided motivation for Arkansas Tech for the 1991-1992 season.
“That gave us the drive to get there,” Mathis said.
The Golden Suns went 35-1 in 1991-1992 and won their first NAIA championship, beating Wayland Baptist 84-68. The Golden Suns won their final 28 games, each victory by 10 points or more.
Arkansas Tech repeated in 1992-1993, completing a 31-5 season with a second NAIA championship. Mathis was the MVP of the NAIA tournament.
The Golden Suns went 124-15 during Mathis’ career, including a 56-6 record in the AIC.
“It was a great ball team,” said Foley, a 2002 Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame inductee who is in his 11th season at UALR. “It was the only team I’ve had that fit their spot.”
Mathis is still Arkansas Tech’s leader in points scored, field goals (987) and field-goal attempts (1,679) two decades after finishing her career.
“She never said a word on the floor,” Foley said. “She let her game do the talking for her.”
Mathis said Foley deserves credit for her development in college.
“I didn’t know basketball until I played for him” said Mathis of Foley, who went 456-81 in 16 years (1987-2003) at Arkansas Tech. “We were very prepared, mentally and physically.”
Mathis said that it’s awkward to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as an individual. She noted the importance of Dawn Grell and Carin Pinion on those early 1990s Arkansas Tech teams.
“It was a team effort,” Mathis said.
Mathis is married to Maxie Mathis, a three-time NAIA All-American basketball player at Arkansas Tech. They have two sons, Brock, 16, and Bowen, 13. She is a registered nurse at Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Russellville, where she’s worked for 18 years.
Foley said he has no doubt that Mathis could have played for him today at the NCAA Division I level.
“Any of those kids could play for me at UALR,” said Foley, “or at 90 percent of the Division I schools.”At a glance NAME Stephanie Strack Mathis AGE 41 HOMETOWN Conway HIGH SCHOOL Conway St. Joseph COLLEGE Arkansas Tech HIGHLIGHTS Three-time All-American at Arkansas Tech. Scored 2,298 points in her collegiate career. … Won NAIA national championships in 1992 and 1993.
Sports, Pages 13 on 02/24/2014