Stan Heath

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Stan Heath was the head men's basketball coach at the University of Arkansas Razorbacks (located in Fayetteville, Arkansas), until his firing on March 26, 2007.

Stanley Heath III (born December 17, 1964) is the former head basketball coach of the University of Arkansas (also known as the Arkansas Razorbacks) in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

[edit] Coaching at Arkansas

Heath took over the team on March 28, 2002 after the controversial firing of former coach Nolan Richardson. Heath was hired away from the Kent State Golden Flashes, after making it to the Elite Eight in the 2002 NCAA tournament in his first season as a head coach. At the end of the 2005-2006 season as coach, Arkansas had improved (winning percentage, post season play, conference record) in each of the four full seasons he has coached. Arkansas went on to win 20 games for the second year in a row at the end of the 2006-2007 season and also received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. On March 26, 2007, Heath's coaching career at Arkansas ended. [1]

Stan Heath's record as head coach of the Razorbacks was (chart):

The 2003 season (2002-2003) was Heath's first as Razorback head coach. Players leaving the team, as well as the normal adjustments to a new system led to a 9-19 first season record.

The 2004 season (2003-2004) saw some improvement to key areas, as well as the addition of key freshmen Parade All-American Ronnie Brewer and McDonald's All-American Olu Famutimi, who contributed to a 12-16 record. The team was the 8th youngest in the NCAA.

The 2005 season (2004-2005) showed marked improvement in almost every area, most notably in the front court, with the addition of Steven Hill, Darian Townes, and Charles Thomas. The jewel of the recruiting class, Al Jefferson, never made it to Arkansas and was selected out of Prentiss (MS) High School in the NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics. At the conclusion of the 2005 season, Heath spoke for the team in announcing they would not accept an invitation to the NIT end of year basketball tournament. This followed an end of year slide which resulted in the loss of 5 of the last 6 games. The team finished with an 18-12 overall record.

The 2006 season (2005-2006) began with a key win over University of Kansas, and respectable losses to national powers Connecticut and Maryland. The end of conference play brought on wins over ranked opponents Florida and Tennessee, five straight wins, and a winning regular season conference record for the first time for Heath at Arkansas. The Razorbacks received an NCAA tournament bid for the first time under Heath, but lost in the first round to Bucknell.

The 2007 season (2006-2007) began by winning the Old Spice Classic inaugural tournament with wins over Southern Illinois, Marist, and West Virginia. The team made it to the SEC Championship Game with victories over South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt. The Razorbacks would lose to Florida in the championship game 56-77 but still received an at large bid to the 2007 NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. The Razorbacks received a 12th seed but lost in the first round against 5th seeded Southern Cal with the final score of 60-77.

[edit] Previous Coaching Experience

[edit] Head Coaching

Before coming to Arkansas, Stan Heath was the head coach at Kent State for the one season, leading the Golden Flashes to a 30-6 record and to the Elite Eight in the 2002 NCAA Tournament.

Heath coaching his former team, Kent State.

Under his guidance, the Golden Flashes won the Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament titles, and came within a victory of reaching the Final Four before falling to Indiana in the South Regional finals.

Along the way, Kent set school and MAC records for wins (30), breaking the record of 29 set by Ball State in 1989; became the first MAC team to reach the Elite Eight since Ohio University in 1964; recorded a league-record 21-game winning streak, including a 17-1 mark in conference play; beat three ranked teams in the NCAA Tournament, including No. 20 Oklahoma State University - Stillwater, 69-61, No. 8 University of Alabama, 71-58, and No. 9 University of Pittsburgh, 78-73 in overtime, before losing to Indiana University Bloomington, 81-69; went 12-0 at home with an average attendance of 4,928, Kent’s best since 1970; led the MAC in scoring defense (64.0 ppg), scoring margin (+11.9 ppg), field goal percentage defense (.418), rebounding margin (+5.0 rpg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.24) while also ranking second in three-point field goal percentage defense (.326) and turnover margin (+2.78); and suffered its five regular season losses by a total of 15 points.

Individually, Heath’s 30 wins ties for the third-most by a first-year head coach in NCAA Division I history with John Warren of Oregon (1945). Only Bill Guthridge of North Carolina (34 in 1998) and Bill Hodges of Indiana State (33 in 1979) won more. The Detroit native was also voted the MAC Coach of the Year and named the national Rookie Coach of the Year by both CBSSportsline.com and CollegeInsider.com.

[edit] Assistant & Division II Coaching

Stan Heath began his collegiate career at Hillsdale College in 1989 as an assistant. After one season, he moved to Albion College where he was an assistant and the junior varsity head coach for two years. He worked at Wayne State University in Detroit the following three years, including serving as associate head coach in 1994 when WSU set a school record for victories (25-5), helping the Tartars win two Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles with a trip to the NCAA Division II Final Four in 1993.

After two seasons as an assistant at Bowling Green State University, he joined Tom Izzo at Michigan State where he was an assistant for five years. He helped the Spartans advance to the Final Four three straight years (1999, 2000, 2001), win the 2000 national title, make another appearance in the Sweet 16 and go a combined 132-37. The Spartans posted records of 17-12 in 1997, 22-8 in 1998, 33-5 in 1999, 32-7 in 2000 and 28-5 in 2001. In addition to the three trips to the Final Four, MSU also reached the Sweet 16 in 1998 and the second round of the NIT in 1997.

On March 19, 2001, Sports Illustrated featured “five college coaches waiting in the wings.” Heath was on that list, along with assistant Leonard Perry of Iowa State, Florida assistant John Pelphrey, head coach Jeff Ruland of Iona and Hofstra assistant Jay Wright. A month after that, he was named the head coach at Kent State.

[edit] Education

Stan Heath graduated from Detroit Catholic Central High School in 1983. He went on to earn his bachelor's in social science from Eastern Michigan University in 1988 and his master’s in sports administration from Wayne State University in 1993.

[edit] As a Player

An all-state performer at Catholic Central High in Detroit, Stan Heath lettered in 1985, 1986 and 1987 at Eastern Michigan.

[edit] Family

Stan Heath is married to the former Ramona Webb (whom he met during his junior year at Eastern Michigan) and they have two sons, Jordan and Joshua.

[edit] Salary

Heath currently earns $772,943 (including media contract, endorsements, etc.) plus an additional $71,000 tax deferred annuity and UA retirement account. His current contract goes until April 30, 2010.

On March 26, 2007, it was reported that Stan Heath would get a settlement of $900,000 dollars over the next three years after being fired as the head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of Arkansas.

[edit] External links

• StanHeath.com Personal Home Page for Stan Heath
• University of Arkansas Men's Basketball Coaching Staff (HogWired.com)
• Heath'sHogs.com