Arkansas basketball coach John Pelphrey closed the door on his first season as the Razorbacks’ head basketball coach Thursday with a final meeting with the media.

While the Razorbacks’ season ended on a downer with a 108-77 loss to top-seeded North Carolina Sunday in the second-round of the NCAA Tournament, Pelphrey, who did not mention the loss once, took a totally positive approach to his squad, which finished the season 23-12 and won Arkansas’ first NCAA Tournament game in nine seasons.

The head coach took the first 10 minutes of the press conference to praise and thank the six Razorback seniors — Sonny Weems, Darian Townes, Gary Ervin, Charles Thomas, Steven Hill, Vincent Hunter — who are departing the program.

Pelphrey said during the season the Razorbacks had too much work and too much improvement to make for him to take time to praise moments of success or improvement but that he appreciated the senior’s hard work and willingness to trust a coaching staff they barely knew.

Pelphrey complimented Townes on a phenomenal year and career with the Hogs.

Pelphrey said Ervin may have made the most improvement as a team player and allowed that he may have had the most room to improve.

Pelphrey credited Hunter as being the leader and heartbeat of the team because he put his teammates first.

While Thomas had and up-and-down season, Pelphrey said he would never forget his double-double performance against Tennessee in the SEC semifinals.

Pelphrey said it was no surprise to him how well Weems played this season because when a player is coachable and works hard, he is going to “run smack dab” into success.

Pelphrey complimented Hill’s shot-blocking prowess but said he would always remember the defensive specialist going toe to toe with Tennessee’s Chris Lofton and Hill winning the game with a turnaround jump shot.

He also credited Stan Heath for bringing such a talented group to the UA.

Losing such a productive group is not lost on the head coach. Seventy percent of Arkansas’ points, 63 percent of their rebounds and 63 percent of their assists exit with them.

However, Pelphrey did not back away from stating one of the team’s goals in 2009 is to return to the NCAA Tournament for the Razorbacks’ fourth consecutive season.

When asked if such a goal was realistic, Pelphrey summed up his attitude about success perfectly.

“Whether it is or not,” he said. “It’s our goal. If it’s not realistic then we have to overachieve to make it happen.”

When asked about his experience coaching this year, Pelphrey maintained it was great and spoke humbly about the opportunity.

“I felt I had a very good frame of reference on the program coming in, but as well as I felt I understood the situation, the fans and their support was even better. I love being the Razorback coach and it is a privilege and an honor to be the head coach at Arkansas.”

Filed under: SEC Basketball, Arkansas Basketball by Terry Wood. Posted on: March 27, 2008 at 12:32 pm