Arrow's Final Play Call is Very Puzzling

One day after the winningest basketball coach in Sun Belt and South Alabama history Ronnie Arrow announced his retirement, the reasons surrounding his abrupt decision are still unknown.  Arrow has not spoken with the media and today we found out his meeting with the players was very brief.  He basically told them he was not going to be their coach anymore, shook hands with the players and left the room.  "We were just all stunned honestly, everybody was just in awe didn't know really what to expect it was just out of the blue because we were getting ready for practice," senior forward Javier Carter said.  "It was surprising it happened all of a sudden," junior forward Augustine Rubit said.  The fact that players were not given the opportunity to ask questions certainly seems out of the ordinary.  The players dismissed the idea that there may have been any friction with the coach that could have lead to the decision.  "Everybody has their ups and downs of course like anybody does with a head coach but we all loved Coach Arrow and we enjoyed him as a coach," Carter said.  Just last week Arrow spoke to the media before practice about how grateful he is to have been at two special universities Texas A&M Corpus Christi and South Alabama.  The team was off to a 2-0 start in the Sun Belt and everything was business as usual.

Interim coach Jeff Price has known Arrow for more than two decades.  Athletic Director Dr. Joel Erdmann notified him of the news, and Price says he isn't sure what lead to the surprising decision.  "I don't know, have not spoke with him up to this point. I'm sure he had his reasons whatever they are I try not to speculate.  I'm sure a lot of people try to speculate. At this point obviously he felt like it was time to do that," said Price. 

The Jags don't have much time to dwell on the news as they resume conference play on Saturday when Arkansas-Little Rock comes to town.  Of course not having Coach Arrow on the bench will be quite a change.  "It was kind of awkward just sitting back thinking like the first game coming up how it will be without him, " Rubit said.  "I think our team has a lot of promise and they know that.  They are smart enough to understand you can't let something drag on you've gotta refocus and get back to work and hopefully you'll see some results of that on Saturday," Price said.  Arrow's results on the court speak for them self.  Two hundred eleven wins, which is the most in school history and the only NCAA Tournament win in school history.  Coach Price has told the team "it's part of the business" in an effort to help them get past this. But for a coach who has been with the university a total of 14 years it's hard to get past such a puzzling business decision by Arrow.