The Bears welcomed back Tony Kemper, the new head coach for the women’s basketball team, to Bear country with open arms, having been away from Conway since 2012.
UCA announced Kemper would be taking over for the previous coach, Sandra Rushing, on March 10.
Athletic Director Brad Teague said, “We were looking for someone that really had the same values as we do here at Central Arkansas.”
Kemper was previously with UCA’s men’s and women’s basketball programs from 2006 to 2012.
“This basketball program is really special so I appreciate the opportunity to be back,” Kemper said.
From 2006 to 2010 Kemper stood as the assistant coach for the men’s basketball team until later becoming the assistant coach for the women’s basketball team under former coach Matt Daniels.
Daniels and Kemper transferred to Marshall University in 2012. Kemper continued to be Daniels’ assistant coach until 2017 when Kemper took over as head coach for Marshall’s women’s basketball team.
Kemper went on to coach the Marshall Thundering Herd for six seasons, amassing a career record of 79-90.
Rushing originally took over for the Sugar Bears in 2012, steadily producing higher seasonal records every year.
Rushing’s tenure with UCA peaked with the 2016-2017 season (26-5, 16-2 ASUN), but her reign came crashing down after a stream of mediocre records. Rushing ended her time at UCA with her lowest record yet (8-18, 3-12 ASUN).
Aware of the trouble the Sugar Bears have faced over the past few years, Kemper hopes to change the program for the better.
“We’ve got to attract student-athletes that are going to value their degree at Central Arkansas, that are going to carry themselves in the community and on the floor in the way that we want, which is together,” Kemper said.
“They need to bring it, they need to play hard. We’re always gonna represent this community well. Our staff will be the same way. One of the things that we pride ourselves on is the student-athlete experience. We’re going to have a goal of having the best student-athlete experience in the Atlantic Sun,” he said.
Although Kemper values his time and players at Marshall, he hopes for his return to UCA to be a clean slate.
“I think we’re gonna build fresh and I’m working on that right now. We’ve got a lot to sell here,” Kemper said. “We’re working on two fronts, one to secure great staff and people that will represent us well and to bring in a whole bunch of student-athletes.”
On top of improving the women’s basketball team’s once-great track record, Kemper hopes to make UCA a primary choice for high school Arkansas athletes.
“It is important that we get back to having a base of high school athletes here,” Kemper said.
Aside from gathering a roster that will represent UCA well off of the court, Kemper hopes to meld the Sugar Bears into a strong, modern basketball team.
“My style, and kind of looking at what we have, we’ve got to shoot the ball better. We’ve got to go recruit some student-athletes that can fill it up. I’ve always liked to shoot three, if you watch basketball that’s part of it now. That’s the modern game.”
Expect to see Kemper on the sidelines starting in late 2023.