Providence Academy building successful basketball programs

Rokas Grabliauskas (22) guards Lukas Durasas, both seniors from Lithuania, during practice Monday at Providence Academy in Rogers.
Rokas Grabliauskas (22) guards Lukas Durasas, both seniors from Lithuania, during practice Monday at Providence Academy in Rogers.

ROGERS — Austin and Lisa Bivens can trace their basketball roots back to the same tree.

The husband and wife duo, now the boys and girls basketball coaches at Rogers-based Providence Academy, have legendary Guy-Perkins coach John Hutchcraft as their common denominator. There are not many better mentors in the state than Hutchcraft, whose programs garner a ton of ink in the Arkansas state high school sports record book with multiple state titles.

“What I learned from John Hutchcraft is being able to play anybody,” Lisa Bivens said. “Don’t be scared to play anybody. Go play anybody; it makes you better. I think that’s the one thing me and Austin both got from him.”

It’s a philosophy Providence has taken to heart this season. Both teams have stepped up their competition level to include some of the largest and best teams in both Arkansas and Oklahoma. The girls team took on defending Class 7A state champion Fayetteville in the Van Buren Tournament, losing 70-39, but hanging with the Lady Bulldogs into the third quarter.

The Providence boys also faced Fayetteville in Van Buren and fell 62-50, but the loss boosted the Patriots’ belief that they could compete with the highest level programs in Arkansas.

“Playing these good teams has really benefited us,” said Providence junior Taylor Webb, who is averaging 11.8 points per game. “I was excited to get our name out there and to see how we could do against these teams.

“I think every game we play that is difficult makes us better. This has helped our confidence, and I’m so glad that we could face these good teams.”

That wasn’t always the case for Providence, a private school that is not sanctioned by the Arkansas Activities Association. Until this season, the basketball teams could not play AAA-sanctioned teams. That meant long bus rides to play Oklahoma schools that were not bound by such restrictions.

This season Providence obtained its National Federation of High Schools accreditation, opening the door for the teams to play Arkansas schools. The Patriots (13-5) captured third place in the Van Buren Tournament by defeating Morrilton and also own wins over Valley Springs, Little Rock Christian and Springdale High. The Patriots blasted Oklahoma power Tulsa Central 88-66 this season and will host Nemo Vista on Friday in their home gym at Immanuel Baptist Church in Rogers.

“It’s been a long process,” Austin Bivens said of obtaining the NFHS accreditation. “A lot of prayer, a lot of direction. Our school board and our administration were really in support of that. It verifies that we are only using kids who are the correct age, that our school is certified. All those things are important things that we needed all along anyway.

“We were having to play some teams that we worried, ‘Is that kid driving the school bus over here? Is he too old?’ So it’s been a great blessing for us.”

Lady Patriot Hayley Kate Webb, a 5-foot-11 sophomore, has been a Providence student since the second grade and has seen the girls’ basketball team grow rapidly. Webb, who averages around 18 points per game and is talking to several colleges about continuing her basketball career, said when she heard the team was playing Fayetteville, it was a little surprising.

“I remember when coach first told me, I was in shock,” Webb said. “I was like, ‘Fayetteville, like big Fayetteville?’ And she said yeah. I was like, hmm. But then I was excited; we were all excited. We were ready for the challenge, and we all wanted to come in and give them a challenge and see how close we could get to beating them.”

There are several top college prospects on the boys team, all foreign exchange students. SK Shittu, a 6-9 junior post from Nigeria, has earned offers from Oklahoma, LSU and several other Division I programs. Lukas Durasas, a 6-5 senior guard from Lithuania, is also drawing a lot of college interest, and recently Nebraska has been recruiting 6-4 senior Rokas Grabliauskas, also from Lithuania, who leads the team in scoring at 16.3 points per game.

Lisa Bivens said when the girls program was just starting, she literally had to walk the halls of the school trying to recruit enough girls to play. That was eye-opening considering the tradition of the Guy-Perkins program she grew up in.

“Truthfully, we asked, ‘Hey can you walk and chew gum at the same time? We’d like for you to play basketball,’” she said.

That’s no longer the case as the athleticism of the team has risen dramatically.

“I came from a basketball school. I love the tradition of basketball and opening the gym on Sunday and playing the game of basketball,” Bivens said. “Now they come up on off days, practicing and shooting, so our program has definitely gotten more than girls who can just walk and chew gum. Now I don’t want the girls that can just chew gum and walk down the hall; I want athletes.”

Those early years and trying to get the program off the ground were tough, said Austin Bivens, who also doubles as the Providence athletic director.

Over the years, he has leaned on coaches such as Beau Thompson at Farmington and Vic Rimmer at Fayetteville for advice, as well as building relationships with other area coaches through summer team camps.

“I wouldn’t want to go back,” he said. “Seven or eight years ago it was a real grind, but I didn’t know any better. I was just dumb enough to keep my head down and keep pushing.”

That resolve has now started to pay dividends as Providence Academy has proved it belongs on the court with the best teams in the state.

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TUESDAY

• Video features on Class 6A/7A female athletes produced by area high school students

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• State prep basketball scores

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• Video features on Class 5A and below athletes produced by Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette staff

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• Video features on Class 6A/7A male athletes produced by area high school students

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Chip Souza can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter@NWAChip.

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