(continued on page 230) and we're closer now. I thought he had a future in coaching and I wanted to help him pursue that future ." The decision proved to be a profitable one , particularly to Gardner. "I was fortunate to get a college job right out of graduate sc hool," Gardner said. "There wasn't really an opening, but Coach Bucy felt like I would be an asset. It was an invaluable experience, one I'll a lways be grateful for. " So Gardner spent the next five years honing his coaching tools under Bucy. He learned the intricacies of the game , how to deal with his players and how to recruit them . But even though he and Bucy worked well together, Gardner developed a desire after a couple of years as an assistant to get on his own , to be a head coach . After discussing his feelings with Bucy , he sent out resumes and made numerous phone calls . Nothing developed initially, but Gardner kept plugging. Finally, he got wind of a shakeup in the making of UAPine Bluff where Coach Steve Smith was under fire . Gardner sent a resume and phoned officials at UAPB to inform them that he was looking for a job. He wasn't sure he would be interested in going to Pine Bluff, but when Smith's contract wasn't renewed and UAPB called, Gardner opted to leave Searcy, where he had lived all his life , and head out on his own. "I was looking hard for a head coaching job ," Gardner said. "I really felt strongly about it my last year at Harding . I didn't know how interested I'd be going to UAPB , but when I talked to them and found out that they were willing to make a commitment to athletiCS, I decided to go ahead and make the move. "It was difficult . I grew up in Searcy, and not only was I leaving a job there, but my famil y and a multitude of friends. I had just about 'every kind of tie you can have to a town in Searcy." There was another hitch. When Gardner set out on his brief NBA expedition, the decision had been his alone. But shortly aiter he came home from Atlanta, he married his college sweetheart and had three children. "My wife (Sheila) is originally from Detroit, so moving wasn 't any big deal for her, but I don' t think she was crazy ' about the idea to start with. We had a lot of friends there . But she realized that it was necessary for me to further my career and got beh1nd me 100 per cent. " Gardner accepted the post last May, but didn't get on the UAPB campus until July. therefore , he continued work Donna Jean WOOllI~ - !Wneca. MO. Medic...1 Technology. Transferred from Southwest Missouri State University: Chi Alpha Rho; Dean·slist . lori lynn Wright · Danville. AR. Computer Science. Tnlnsferred from Arkan~s Tech; Sigma Sigma Sign-.... Delta. vlce·pres.; Data Processing Management Association; Innamura]s, Softball . ..IIImes Bradley Yarbrough - !Warcy. AR. Computer Science . Alpha Kappa Phi ; Alpha Chi; Campaigns. May. College Bowl Team; Data Processing Management Association. Dea.n's list. Society for the Advancement of Management . R()H Tra~ Yingling - Benton, AR Computer Information Systesm. Alpha Tau Ep· silon; Data Processing Management Association: Inna.murals: Track: KHCA staff; Phi Beta lambda : Homecoming Comml«ee Debbie Kaye Young - Memphis. TN . Special and Elementary Education. Regina, Alpha Psi Om~a. American Coll~e Theater Festival ; Big Sister: Campaigns , Inlernational: Campus Players. pres., sec.; College Republicans: Dramatics; Forensics Team ; Intercoleglale Speech Arts: PI Kappa Delta. sec.. treas.; Readers Theater: Spring Sing Production Staff; Council for E"ceplional Children at Harding and at the same time , was attempting to recru it for UAPB. Obviously , it wasn't an easy task. "Basically, what I had to do was to come up wi th a team, " Gardner laughed. "I had seven players eligible to play , but I had to come up with the rest . Also, I couldn't get on the payroll until July and I had to eat, so I had to keep working at Harding, too. " " It was a very difficult transi - tion period , running back and forth between Pine Bluff and Searcy, trying to keep my fami - ly fed and trying to recruit." Adding to Gardner's difficulties was the fact that by May , most of the quality high sc hool and junior college players had already signed with other schools. " It was difficult to get the kids I wanted , those who could play at the positions I wanted and do the things I wanted them to do, " Gardner said. "I found a bunch of 6-2's, but very few big kids. I ended up just trying to find bodies." After a trying summer, Gardner finally got everything under control. When practice began last fall with seven returnees and .seven freshman in camp. the first-year coach was pleasantly surprised . "I had heard all sorts of bad things about UAPB basketball players , the type of people they are and so on ," Gardner said. "So I came into this thing with the idea that I would have to be a very strict diSciplinarian. But when everybody got here , I was surprised. What I found was a group of good kids who really wanted to play. They were just looking for some good leadership. They responded real well to me. They really seemed anxious to follow my lead. " "I see a great deal of potential here ," Gardner noted. "There are still some things that we're working on in order to get our program up to par with the AIC schools, but we're located in a good area and we have a good facility. I think we' ll be able to attract some of the better ball players in the state in future years." According to Bucy, a good deal of UAPB's potential lies within Gardner himself. "I think hiring Butch was probably the best thing UAPB ever did ," Bucy said. "He can be nothing but a plus for them. " ~ Seniors 233
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