21 years after epic shot, Scotty Thurman helps Arkansas again
JACKSONVILLE — There will not be an ESPN documentary titled "I Hate Scotty Thurman" like there was last week for Christian Laettner. But if the tables were turned on Duke fans, Thurman would have been a logical candidate.
Though Laettner hit a famous shot to propel Duke to a national title, Thurman hit a famous shot that prevented one 21 years ago: A high-arcing three-pointer that beat the shot clock with 51 seconds left and broke a tie against the Grant Hill-led Blue Devils, giving Arkansas its only national title.
"I wouldn't say it was life-defining, but it's something I'm very proud of," Thurman said Wednesday. "When you're 19, I don't think you really embrace it and enjoy it as much and now that I have a son in college, I think I enjoy it a lot more. And of course, living and working in Arkansas it's kind of hard to run away from it."
BRACKET: Make your picks
Thurman, who turned 40 last fall, is back with Arkansas in an official capacity as both the color commentator for radio broadcasts and the program's director of student-athlete development. In that role, he is responsible for things like community service events and helping players put together résumés and attend job fairs.
It has also allowed him to have an active role in helping Arkansas return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008 rather than just being a frustrated former player complaining about the state of the program, which has been decidedly average since its last Sweet 16 appearance in 1996.
"I never thought this opportunity would present itself," Thurman said. "When I started looking around to see if there was a chance to come back, it was a good opportunity to not be one of those guys who asked questions about the program and not get involved. This was an opportunity to get involved and help the program."
As Arkansas' players waited for their turn to get on the court for shootaround at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena on Wednesday, a day before they face Wofford in the second round, Thurman was one of three Arkansas legends in the locker room along with Lee Mayberry, who came back last year as a graduate assistant, and Todd Day, now a high school coach in Memphis.
"I feel like in recent years our legends weren't around, but now that Arkansas basketball is back, they're more comfortable with being more involved," Razorbacks' big man Bobby Portis said. "It's big for our players. That's our only championship in school history, and he hit the shot to win it."
After his college career, which ended with Arkansas' loss to UCLA in the 1995 championship game, Thurman went undrafted and bounced around professional leagues in Europe and the Middle East and minor leagues in the United States. He eventually returned to Little Rock and worked in the real estate business for a dozen years before getting the offer to work in Arkansas' athletic department in 2010.
Though most of Arkansas' players weren't even born when Thurman hit his championship-winning shot, it's so much a part of program lore they can't escape it.
"It's kind of funny to see it was so long ago and these guys talk about it, but obviously they're not going to remember it," Thurman said. "Time doesn't stand still. It moves fast but being able to work here and walk into the arena where I played and we had so much success definitely brings back good memories."
Not so much for Duke fans, of course. But even when Thurman went to a game at Cameron Indoor Stadium a few years ago, he said, he didn't get much backlash from Blue Devils fans.
"I never felt like anybody hated me. I'm sure there are some that do but I've never heard from them," he said. "In fact, Coach K took me in the locker room and we talked a little bit and reflected back on the game, and it was kind of odd. I was shocked he was so cool."
GALLERY: HIGHLIGHTS FROM MARCH MADNESS
