Red Wolves fans were treated to some welcome and surprising news this week – the tennis program was recognized for landing “the No. 19 mid-major recruiting class as released today by the Tennis Recruiting Network.” Sujay Lama, the tennis head coach which Athletic Director Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics Jeff Purinton brought aboard less than a year ago, delivered the second best class in the Sun Belt, trailing only Georgia Southern. This is notable for a number reasons, the most prominent being that A-State Tennis has been pretty, pretty bad for a long, long time.

Building on that theme, you may have also heard that Arkansas State Athletics has finally taken significant steps to rejoining the prestigious Sun Belt Baseball Community by first making an unfortunate but necessary move in dismissing longtime head coach Tommy Raffo, then recruiting Nicholls head baseball coach Mike Silva to revive the program. A self-described “grinder,” Silva led the Colonels to a pair of consecutive NCAA Baseball Tournament appearances, where they haven’t visited since 1998 (four years after A-State’s last invite).

More telling than the hire (which tells us much), the Memorandum of Understanding undergirding Silva’s contract pays the new head coach $180,000 for six years, offers $200,000 for his staff, provides him a $50,000 bonus for winning the College World Series (but just $1,500 for earning an invite), and his buyout plunges if significant upgrades aren’t made to Tomlinson Stadium – an edifice so deficient of attributes it seems better suited for Siberia than a facility belonging to one of the best college baseball conferences in the nation.

What’s gotten into Arkansas State? The answer is Jeff Purinton, the former Alabama assistant AD who boldly announced that he wasn’t in Jonesboro to drink wine with the donors. Two years into his reign, Purinton has not been seen drinking Merlot in the AD box, nor has he been witnessed resting on his laurels. His administration has been marked by a growing list of good decisions, starting with putting his support behind football head coach Butch Jones, whom he didn’t hire. A young AD might have been tempted to make a splashy move and install his own guy. Purinton chose prudence. Since standing pat on football, the program has steadily improved, with the team expected to be a conference contender in 2024.

When Purinton was assigned a more difficult test – revitalizing the university’s sagging men’s basketball program – he was more than up to the challenge. His hire of Alabama assistant basketball coach Bryan Hodgson has proven cathartic to A-State’s magical assent to the Sun Belt’s hardwood upper echelon. Hodgson not only led the men’s basketball program to the Sun Belt tournament finals, he assembled the program’s finest recruiting class for 2024. I honestly can’t remember the last time I ever gave thought to Arkansas State basketball earlier than October. But here we are, the fan base buzzing for hoops in Summer.

In just two years, Jeff Purinton has infused new excitement into Arkansas State’s Big Three of college sports – the ever essential forward-facing portals of the University. And somehow, he’s still found enough voltage for tennis.

PHOTO BELONGS TO ME BUT YOU CAN HAVE IT