Cross & Crescent

Lambda Chi has been well represented in the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament since its inception in 1939. Henry Iba (Westminster 1927), Larry Brown (California-Los Angeles HON), and Rick Pitino (Massachusetts) have led their squads to a combined four National Championships, and nine Final Four appearances.

March Madness isn’t always about who wins the title but about the upsets and underdogs. This year Ronnie Arrow (Texas State-San Marcos 1969), head coach at the University of South Alabama, and Tommy Dempsey (Susquehanna 1996), head coach at Rider University, hope to be among the Cinderella teams.

Arrow has coached in three NCAA Tournaments, including a second-round loss to eventual national champion Michigan in 1989.

“Getting into March Madness is amazing,” says Arrow. “There is no greater sporting event then the NCAA Tournament. It gives yourself, your players, and coaching staff something major to shoot for each year.”

Dempsey has never coached a NCAA Division I Tournament game but hopes that changes this season.

Rider Coach

Dempsey says it was during his junior year of college he decided he wanted to pursue coaching basketball as a career.

“I wanted to do something that I was passionate about and at that stage in my life the only two things that I was truly passionate about were family and sports,” he says.

Following a short stint as an assistant at his alma mater, Susquehanna University, Dempsey began his head coaching career at the age of 24 at Wyoming Seminary Preparatory School in Kingston, Pennsylvania. The following year, he moved to the college ranks coaching Keystone College from 2000-2002 and Lackawanna Community College from 2002-2003. He took each team to the NJCAA Final Four and twice was a finalist for National Coach of the Year honors.

In 2003, Dempsey became an assistant coach at Rider and was named interim head coach during the 2005-2006 season. He took the reins full-time the following season.

“Contrary to what people think, it has not been that different coaching Division I,” says Dempsey. “There is more pressure and accountability, but when coaching in front of 50 fans, I had the same feeling in my stomach before tipoff as I have now. It doesn’t matter what level you are at because you still invest in your program and get you prepared and you want to win just as bad.”

Currently, his team is tied for the lead in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. He says the season has been very rewarding thus far but there is a lot of work still to be done. His Rider team’s goal is to make the field of 65 in the NCAA tournament. They also have the school record for wins in sight.

“We feel we have as good of a shot as anyone heading into the conference tournament,” says Dempsey. “To cut down the nets and advance to the Big Dance would be a dream come true.”

South Alabama Coach

In contrast to Dempsey’s young coaching career, Arrow has nearly 40 years of experience. He served as a graduate assistant for Sam Houston State from 1969-1972, was head coach at Pasadena High School from 1972-1973, and head coach at San Jacinto Community College from 1977-1987.

While at San Jacinto, Arrow saw much success. He had an overall record of 302-43, was named national Coach of the Year twice, and won three national titles.

In 1988, he was named head coach at South Alabama. In his eight-year stint he won two Sun Belt Conference Tournaments, giving his teams automatic births to the NCAA Tournament.

In 1998, Arrow took on the task of starting the Texas A&M–Corpus Christi program from scratch.

“We started A&M from nothing: no players, logos, pens, pencils, basketballs, or uniforms,” says Arrow.

The team played its inaugural season in 1999. It spent seven seasons without any conference affiliation, meaning it had no real shot at making the NCAA Tournament field. During this time though they made their presence felt, including defeating powerhouses Florida State and Old Dominion in the 2004-2005 season.

In 2006-2007, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi joined the Southland Conference. The team put together a 26-7 record behind six seniors. They won the conference regular and tournament championship, giving them a bid to the NCAA Tournament. As a 15th seed they led Wisconsin by 18 points before eventually losing the game.

“I was very proud of the six seniors we had last year,” says Arrow. “They gave themselves the opportunity to have a memory they will never forget in playing in the NCAA Tournament.”

Following the season, Arrow was given the opportunity to return home to South Alabama. He has led his squad into a tie for the lead in the Sun Belt Conference this season. His team has beaten the large conference school of Mississippi State and took Vanderbilt to double overtime.

“I think the Sun Belt has shown this year that we can play with the big boys,” says Arrow. “We play a lot of the big boys and we don’t back down from them. It’s an opportunity to sell your kids on that they want to play against good talent, and good teams.”

His short-term goal is to win out the regular season giving his team the top seed in the conference tournament, which South Alabama is hosting.

When asked about his expectations for the conference tournament and beyond, Arrow simply says, “To win it and to go as deep as possible into the NCAA tournament as we can. There is nothing like winning your conference tournament in front of your fans and student body.”