Arnold, Raiders' 1994-95 championship team honored
5/15/2010 – Arnold, Raiders 1994-95 championship team honored
Florida Association of Basketball Coaches to recognize coach, players who led NWF State to first JUCO title
By ADAM ROSENBERG Northwest Florida Daily News 315-4484 | arosenberg@nwfdailynews.com
For 14 years, Okaloosa-Walton College (now Northwest Florida State College) did not have a men's basketball team. Discontinued in 1978, it was not until 1991 that the program re-emerged and not until two years later that it found a top-notch coach. Still, the fledgling program had absolutely no goals of which to speak.
A few months later, the coach led that team to an NJCAA national championship just four years into the program's existence and began a run of junior college basketball excellence for the Raiders.
That coach was the legendary Murray Arnold, a man with over 40 years of coaching experience from high school to the NBA, and he'll was on hand in Orlando as that championship team was honored by the Florida Association of Basketball Coaches "Court of Legends" Hall of Fame.
"It was kind of an amazing run to the championship," Arnold said. "We never had any real expectations of winning the national championship or the conference. We were just trying to get through the schedule."
The Raiders got through the schedule alright, going 31-6 on their way to a Panhandle Conference championship, a state championship and ultimately a national championship win in Hutchinson, Kan.
Arnold said he arrived at the confluence of talented players, good timing and exceptional support from former OWC president Bob Richburg and Athletic Director Mickey Englett.
He arrived as a highly decorated coach with experience at several Division-I schools, and he also served as an assistant for the Chicago Bulls. When he came to OWC with longtime friend and assistant Ray Ross, the cupboard was bare, as he had just one returning player.
But Arnold established what Englett called the "Albany-Raider Pipeline," in reference to the school's strong recruiting ties to high school players in Albany, Ga. He scooped up three stars from Albany High School Quinton Peterson, Michael Spruell and Melvin Drake who were pivotal in the Raiders' championship run.
The team also boasted forward Daymond Forney, who Arnold called the best JUCO player in the country. Add local products like Sherman Fuller and Davonne Fields, and the Raiders had boatloads of talent. Getting that talent to mesh was another story.
Perhaps the biggest addition was point guard Larry Coates, who joined that team in his late 20s after serving in the military. He not only provided talent running the offense, but invaluable experience.
"Even though we had talent, we had a difficult time getting them on the same page," said Ross, who still attends Raider games regularly and whose son Ramsey serves as the school's Athletic Coordinator. "It was kind of a season that was frustrating. It was the reality of what we were dealing with."
Apparently, the team meshed just in time.
They overcame a slow start in the state tournament to defeat St. Petersburg Community College in the championship game, before winning four NJCAA tournament games by an average of over 18 points.
The Raiders beat Spartanburg (S.C.) 79-63 in the national championship, as Coates was named tournament MVP. It was only the second NJCAA championship for a school from Florida, and no Florida team has won one since.
Murray and Ross are in agreement that the team could have competed and won a few games in that year's NCAA NIT.
"We had all the ingredients," Ross said. "Everyone knew their roles. I definitely think we could have won a few games in the NIT."
Both Muray and Ross, friends from their days assisting at Mississippi State, were in attendance at the ceremony at Ovideo High School. Murray said he hasn't spoken to any of his players in a while and wasn't sure if any would be in attendance.
Still, the ceremony figures to a fitting reminder of what occurred 15 years ago when today's Northwest Florida State College basketball tradition was born, and a tribute to Arnold, who helped build that tradition.
"It's a great honor for our college to have this team recognized," Englett said. "It's an even greater honor to have a coach like Murray Arnold recognized. He's a great person and a truly unique individual."