I was a student at the University of Arkansas from 1975 to 1979, and was fortunate to watch the change that was taking place in the basketball program under head coach Eddie Sutton. Years later, in the early nineties, I was living and working in Little Rock, married with two young children. And the Razorbacks were a force on the national stage under head coach Nolan Richardson. One thing I remember from those days was not liking this guy who played for our main rival, the University of Kentucky. He was the point guard, a sharpshooter named Travis Ford. It wasn’t personal, I just didn’t care much for any opposing players who got the best of the Hogs, which Ford often did.
He was born in Madisonville, Kentucky in December of 1969, just a few weeks after the Game of the Century in Fayetteville between Arkansas and Texas. But let’s stick to basketball.
Ford attended Madisonville North Hopkins High School where he was named the Western Kentucky Player of the Year twice. In 1989 he enrolled at the University of Missouri and made the Big Eight All-Freshman Team. The next year Ford transferred to Kentucky to play for Rick Pitino, where he had to sit out the first year because it was an NCAA rule at the time regarding transfers.
During the 1991-92 season, Ford was a sophomore, and while Pitino used him sparingly, he gained valuable experience on what had become a dangerous team. He got in for seven minutes in their last game that season, in what many consider the greatest NCAA Final Four game ever played, the 104-103 overtime heartbreaker against Duke.
The next two seasons the Wildcats, with Ford as the starting point guard, enjoyed great success. They would win the SEC Tournament during Ford’s junior and senior years, knocking the Hogs out in the semis in both 93 and 94. In 1993 the Wildcats rolled through the Southeast Regional, their closest game coming against Utah who they beat by 21. The Final Four was in New Orleans and Kentucky was matched in a semifinal game against Michigan and the Fab Five, which the Wolverines won in another overtime thriller.
The most memorable game during Ford’s senior year became known as the Mardi Gras Miracle, where Kentucky fell behind LSU in Baton Rouge and trailed 68-37 with less than 16 minutes to play in the game. Then the rally started, and ended with Wildcat forward Walter McCarty hitting a three to put his team ahead with 19 seconds, and Ford icing the game with free throws.
Ford was named the new head coach at UA Little Rock last March, replacing Darrell Walker. It is his sixth head coaching job, following stints at Campbellsville University, Eastern Kentucky, UMass, Oklahoma State and Saint Louis University.
In a radio interview last month Ford said he remembered a game in Barnhill Arena when both teams were ranked in the top ten. He said that when Coach Rick Pitino walked out onto the floor the Arkansas band played the theme from The Godfather. “We all thought it was hilarious.” Asked what made him want to take the new job, Ford said it was the things he heard from Trojan AD Frank Cuervo when they met.
“I didn’t know much about the job,” Ford said. “But listening to Frank and his vision, I saw the things he had already implemented within the athletic department and the success that they were having. Frank is a great AD, and he really has the athletic program going in amazing places. Probably the best it’s ever been.” “This is my 28th year as a college head coach, and where I lived, the city, the town, was very, very important to me. This is the first move my wife and I are making without our children. We have three kids who are all out of college now and kind of doing their own thing. I really did my research on Little Rock. Came here before we took the job. Just kind of fell in love with everybody that we met. It reminds me a lot of Kentucky and where I grew up. Both my wife and I were born and raised in Kentucky, and this feels very similar to that.” “I love the facilities. The Stevens Center is absolutely tremendous. That was important to me. This is a program that has had success. We just want to try to do it consistently as much as we can and build something that’s really special for the people of Little Rock.” Besides having a team that is new to him, they will also be new to each other, with 15 players coming together for the first time.
“This is a work in progress,” Ford said. “First years are always, you know, a challenge. We tried to put a schedule together that’s going to prepare us for conference play. We want to make NCAA tournaments. How do you make NCAA tournaments? You win your conference championship. So we want to be great by February and March. And we put together a very tough schedule, but also with 17 home games so everyone can come out and watch the Trojans play.” “We had a plan in place and we think we got pretty close to what we were looking for. In this day and age, with NIL, you have to budget your money. We try and be two deep at every position. I think one of the strengths of this team is depth, and if you go back and look at all my teams in the past, I’ve always had really good wings. I’ve put 15,16, guys in the NBA, and a lot of them have been wing players.” “We’ve got a young man, Jah’Likai King, who was the leading scorer for UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) last year. They were conference champions, tournament champions, played in the NCAA tournament, and he was their leading scorer. So not only is he a really, really good player, he comes with great experience and winning, which is important.” We’ve got another young man, Aaron Clark, who averaged 15 a game at Pepperdine. And a local player, Terrion Burgess, who played for the Trojans last year, is somebody with an incredible future ahead of him. He’s battled few injuries here in the last couple of years and we’re getting him back healthy. I think the sky’s the limit for Terrion.” “This is all a total team effort. I mentioned we have an elite AD in Frank Cuervo. Then there is Dan Crowley, the deputy AD, who helps raise money. Everyone in the athletic department comes together and luckily, I really enjoy going out and doing this. Sure, I love it. Because I like being around people that care about the same thing I care about. I care about Trojan basketball program right now. I’m in charge of that, and I know there’s a lot of people that would love to see it be successful consistently.” “I think we could be a big show here. I really do. We want people to be looking forward to the games, trying to figure out when the next game is, looking on their calendar for the next one. That’s what we’re hoping to build.”
Photo caption (cover): LR Trojans guard Jah’Likai King drives to the basket in Rupp Arena against the University of Kentucky on October 23. The Trojans are coached by former UK star Travis Ford.