Two years ago, days after Coach Mike Balado was dismissed from Arkansas State basketball, I wrote this about the ensuing coaching search and Athletic Director Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics Jeff Purinton:

“Listen, there is enough pressure on Purinton right now that I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s crapping diamonds every morning. He’s going to put the work in this hire. This is Jeff Purinton’s first significant hire. This will be his guy. I have faith it will be a good guy.”

Lo and behold, Purinton did hire a good guy – Bryan Hodgson, assistant at Alabama under Nate Oates and master recruiter. In two years, Hodgson delivered a pair of SBC Tournament finals and two of the best recruiting classes in Arkansas State history. For his first true test as a Vice Chancellor, Purinton passed with flying colors.

Today, the level of difficulty is significantly higher. It’s one thing to hire a replacement for a deeply unpopular and mostly unsuccessful coach. It’s another to replace a rockstar who packed the cavernous First National Bank Arena with fans who had actually begun to believe in the program again. If Jeff Purinton has another magic card to play, this would be a swell time to show his hand.

Bear in mind, Purinton appears to have done everything to keep Hodgson as his guy – contract extension, pay raises, NIL commitments. It wasn’t enough. Hodgson left for what is reported to be a six year, seven million dollar deal for a American Athletic Conference program located in a near-tropical climate. (You think Arkansas is humid!). Objectively speaking, it’s not quite a lateral move, but neither is it a marquis move. USF (I guess I’ll just go ahead and name the program) has made the NCAA tournament exactly two more times than Arkansas State. The American, which sent the same number of teams to the NCAA Tournament this year as the Sun Belt, is no longer a premier basketball conference. The reason Hodgson made this move to South Florida is only for Hodgson to know.

Good news is, Arkansas State is not where careers go to die. Two of the last three head coaches for A-State men’s basketball have moved on for bigger contracts (Grant McCasland is currently leading Texas Tech to a berth in the Sweet 16). That’s a card Purinton can play when enticing new talent, as is the swelling attendance at Arkansas State games and the program’s sudden exposure to national television.

The favorite out of the gate appears to be Red Wolves assistant Tee Butters, who before joining Hodgson in Jonesboro was a long time assistant at Charleston Southern. Hiring in-house when the administration has had success is much more agreeable than elevating an assistant following the departure of an unpopular coach. It helps that Butters appears to know his hoops and is deeply familiar with the personnel and system.

Still, Purinton is likely casting his line and seeing what nibbles. Hodgson left the program with a parting gift – positive exposure. Purinton won’t struggle so hard to sell A-State attributes. The winning potential is established. The question is, can Purinton rise to the challenge once again?

PHOTO CREDIT is my own