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Friday, July 14, 2000
Isles' slate a good one, despite arena
UT game adds legitimacy, but new facility needed
By Mark Zuckerman
Staff Writer
Since February, Ronnie Arrow has kept a newspaper clipping in the top desk drawer of his office at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. It's a comprehensive listing of the final regular-season standings for every Division I conference in the nation.
It also serves as a checklist of sorts for Arrow as he embarks on the near-impossible task of scheduling 28 games for the second season of Islander men's basketball.
There are 319 Division I programs in the country, at least 250 of which Arrow probably contacted over the last two years in search of opponents. He also admits to having spent several hours a day for months working on scheduling.
Such is life when you're a second-year program with no conference affiliation.
On that basis alone, the unveiling of A&M-Corpus Christi's 2000-2001 schedule on Wednesday was a considerable accomplishment.
The crown jewel is a December 16 road game at Texas. It may result in a 45-point shellacking at the hands of the Longhorns, but the mere fact that the Islanders are playing Rick Barnes' bunch in their second season of existence adds a legitimacy to Arrow's program that may not have existed for some local fans last year.
True, A&M-Corpus Christi faced national power Iowa State last season, but for folks in these parts, the game with UT carries much more clout.
This year's schedule also includes games at Texas Tech, BYU, San Diego State, Valparaiso and a tournament at Southwest Missouri State.
Because of A&M-Corpus Christi's unique status as the first university to start a Division I program from scratch in two decades, it is difficult to make comparisons with other teams' schedules.
But as a point of reference, take a look at last year's schedule at Albany, N.Y., which was in its first season of Division I play after a lengthy history as a Division II institution.
The Great Danes, a fellow independent, did travel to nearby Syracuse as well as Big East patsy Rutgers, but the remainder of the slate boasted such basketball no-names as Elon, Southern Vermont, Green Mountain and a home-and-home series with Maryland-Eastern Shore.
And they finished 10-18 against that schedule, rated 284th in the country by one computer poll - a poll which ranked the Islanders' schedule 224th.
But before you start swelling with civic pride over the hometown boys, there is something you should recognize: A&M-Corpus Christi may be facing several big-name programs this winter, but none of those games will take place at home. The slate at Memorial Coliseum is awash with games against Winthrop, Cleveland State, Portland and Sul Ross State.
It shouldn't take long to figure out why.
The 47-year-old downtown edifice, while adequate in the past, simply doesn't cut it for a Division I program. The low seating capacity (3,500), dank atmosphere and humidity problems (which led to a frequently wet basketball court and temperatures routinely in the 50s), make the Coliseum a serious detriment for A&M-Corpus Christi when it tries to schedule home games.
And the word is out: Texas Tech coach James Dickey was not pleased with the conditions last November and all but said he won't bring his team back. Ditto for Texas-San Antonio coach Tim Carter.
All of that could change, of course, come November, when residents will vote on a proposed 10,000-seat downtown multipurpose arena, funded by a one-eighth cent sales tax increase.
If the plan is approved, you can bet the Islanders will have the ability to bring a top-name opponent to Corpus Christi. Imagine that December 16 game against Texas, played not at the Frank Erwin Center, but right here in a sparkling new facility with a sellout crowd in attendance.
That's when A&M-Corpus Christi becomes a legitimate Division I program. That's when the dream becomes reality.
Staff writer Mark Zuckerman can be reached at 886-3747 or by e-mail at zuckermanm@caller.com
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