More than four decades into his coaching career, University of Arkansas-Little Rock women’s basketball Coach Joe Foley still isn’t comfortable with the celebrity aspect of his job.
No, he doesn’t get remotely the same recognition as either Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer or Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma — the only two active Division I women’s basketball coaches with more career wins than Foley. But he’s plenty well-regarded both among his peers and in the state he’s spent 36 seasons as a head coach.
The Trojans want to make sure that, going forward, anyone who visits their arena knows Foley’s name.
UALR will immortalize Foley when the school names its court at the Jack Stephens Center in honor of the legendary coach in a ceremony prior to the Trojans’ Nov. 13 game against Ole Miss.
Foley, who has taken UALR to six NCAA Tournaments in 19 seasons at the helm, will be only the fourth women’s basketball coach to have a court named after them, joining North Carolina State’s Kay Yow, Tennessee’s Pat Summitt and close friend Gary Blair of Texas A&M.
“I’m incredibly touched by this gesture,” Foley said in a release Saturday. “It is truly special. Really most of the credit goes to the players, assistant coaches and staff members that have made this program the success it is.
“What really means the most is that this came about from my former players.” Foley acknowledged he might have felt weird about having his signature stamped on the Jack Stephens Center floor if it wasn’t for the fact that his former players first approached Trojans Athletic Director George Lee with the idea.
Lee told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that there wasn’t necessarily one particular player who first had the idea, but UALR assistant Alicia Cash — who’s been on Foley’s staff since 2008 and played for him from 2000-05 — served as the primary conduit between him and the contingent of former Trojans.
Once Lee cleared the recognition with the University of Arkansas System, it was full steam ahead.
“This is an honor of which Coach Foley is truly deserving,” Lee said. “For a group of his former players to lead the charge on this honor shows how much respect he has earned across the various decades he has coached here. It is truly remarkable. I am so pleased that we can recognize him in this way.” Only 26 other schools in the nation have named their home court in honor of a head coach — a list that includes Nolan Richardson (Arkansas), Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), North Carolina (Roy Williams) and Kansas (James Naismith), among others.
Foley, who was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, is 833-295 in 35 seasons as a head coach. Prior to arriving at UALR, he was Arkansas Tech’s women’s coach in 1987-2003. He coached the Golden Suns to six 30-win seasons, 14 conference championships and NAIA national championships in 1992 and 1993. Tech was also the NCAA national runner-up in 1999 under Foley.
When UALR formally names the floor in November, it will reveal a sticker on the left side of the court with Foley’s signature. That sticker will remain until next summer, when the mark is permanently painted onto the hardwood.