STEVE SHIELDS BIOGRAPHY
 
As Steve Shields enters his seventh season as head coach of the Trojans, a look at his UALR résumé reveals four division titles in his first six years, back-to-back 20-wins seasons and a school-record 15 conference wins in 2008-09. Under Shields’ guidance, the 2008-09 Trojans went 23-8 to give UALR its first back-to-back 20-win seasons since the 1988-89 and 1989-90 campaigns.

Last year’s squad was one of just seven teams in the country with 11-or-more true road wins (games on an opponent’s home floor) and ended the season with the highest RPI rating in the state of Arkansas (No. 93). The 23 victories marked the highest win total by a UALR team since the Derek Fisher-led 1995-96 squad.

The 2004 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, Shields heads into his seventh season with an overall record of 105-73 (.590 winning percentage), and has led the Trojans to the Sun Belt’s third-highest overall win total during his six-year tenure. He guided the Trojans to back-to-back East Division titles in his first two seasons as head coach, and replicated the feat by winning the West Division each of the past two years.

As a rookie head coach in 2003-04, Shields inherited a team which did not return a single starter from the previous year’s squad and led them to a 17-12 mark and his first division championship – earning Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors in the process. The 2004-05 season saw Shields guide the Trojans to an 18-10 mark and his second division title, while ending the year with the second-best RPI ranking in school history (64).

He picked up his third division championship in 2007-08 as UALR put together the school’s first 20-win season since the 1995-96 campaign by going 20-11. The Trojans won their last four games of the regular season to finish with an 11-7 conference mark and tie Louisiana-Lafayette for a share of the west division championship.

The 2008-09 Trojans won the west for the second-consecutive season by going a perfect 11-0 against West Division teams on the way to a school-record 15-3 conference mark. Led by First Team All-SBC selection Shane Edwards and Defensive Player of the Year John Fowler, last year’s squad was one of just 18 teams in the nation to win 12-or-more games away from home (away and neutral contests) – a list which included North Carolina, Michigan State, Oklahoma and Memphis.

Last year’s team advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament for the second-straight year after downing Denver, 58-55, in quarterfinal action. UALR’s season came to an end in the semifinals, as the Trojans were eliminated by South Alabama, but ended the year with the program’s highest win total since the 1995-96 team.

In his six-year tenure as head coach, Shields has coached six All-Sun Belt and three NABC All-District selections, as well as the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Male Student-Athlete of the Year and the Male Sporting Behavior recipient. In 2006-07, Rashad Jones-Jennings garnered First Team All-Sun Belt and NABC All-District accolades after becoming just the second player in Sun Belt history to lead the nation in rebounding average (13.1 per game). He was named All-Tournament at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, a showcase for NBA scouts featuring the top seniors in the nation, and went on to earn a spot on the Philadelphia 76ers’ NBA summer league team.

Television exposure has been on the rise under Shields, with UALR playing in 26 televised contests over the past five years. The 2008-09 season saw the Trojans play in seven televised contests, with ESPN visiting the Jack Stephens Center for the fifth time in the arena’s four-year existence.

Shields’ impact at UALR goes beyond the basketball court, as his emphasis on academics has allowed UALR to graduate 100 percent of the players who have exhausted their eligibility under his watch (20-for-20). Outside of the classroom, he keeps his players involved in the community through bi-monthly visits to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital, working with the Arkansas Special Olympics, and participating in the Trojans for Education program, among other activities.

Shields enters his seventh season with a 105-73 overall record (.590 winning percentage), which places him third on the school’s all-time list for coaching victories. Under his guidance, the Trojans have enjoyed a .748 winning percentage on their home floor (65-22), including a 25-3 mark in UALR’s final two years at Alltel Arena.

In his first season as head coach, the Trojans put together a 17-12 record and a 9-5 mark in league play to finish a game up on Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee, giving Shields his first East Division championship. On the heels of their division championship, the Trojans advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament, a feat which was made all the more impressive by the fact that the Trojans didn’t have any starters back from the previous year’s squad. At season’s end, Shields was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year, making him the first coach so honored in his first year leading a Division-I program.

In 2004-05, the Trojans rallied from a 4-4 start to conference play to win their final six Sun Belt games and secure their second-straight East Division title. That year’s team swept Sun Belt-opponent Western Kentucky for the first time since the 1997-98 season, and scored a significant non-conference win over Southern Illinois on Dec. 7, 2004. SIU went on to earn a No. 7 seed in the 2005 NCAA Tournament and advanced to the second round.

UALR’s success in 2004-05 translated into more television coverage, as the Trojans made a school-record eight TV appearances, including playing in the prestigious ESPN Bracket Buster event against Bowling Green.

UALR was hit hard by graduation following its second East Division title, losing seven seniors and all five starters off a team which went 10-4 in league play. Despite the team’s relative inexperience, the Trojans got off to an 11-7 start, including a 4-2 conference mark. UALR closed out the regular season with a 13-14 record, but pulled things together in the opening round of the Sun Belt Tournament to down North Texas, 72-55, before falling to eventual champion South Alabama in the next round.

The Trojans played in five televised games that year, including contests against No. 11 Illinois and No. 13 Michigan State, with the Spartans pulling out a narrow 72-67 victory in Grand Rapids, Mich. The games against the Illini and MSU marked the second-straight year the Trojans faced two Final Four teams from the previous season’s NCAA Tournament.

Without a single player on the roster with more than one year of Division I experience, the 2006-07 season was marred by inconsistency. UALR showed its potential with an 81-79 win over MAC frontrunner Akron, which went 26-7 on the year, and a 67-66 win at Minnesota, but failed to build on its momentum. The Trojans ended the season with a 13-17 record (8-10 in league play) after falling to New Orleans in the conference tournament.

Despite being picked to finish sixth in the west division in the Sun Belt’s preseason poll, the 2007-08 Trojans jumped out to a 9-1 start on their way to a 20-11 record – the program’s first 20-win season since the 1995-96 campaign. UALR won its last four games of the regular season to finish with an 11-7 conference record and tie Louisiana-Lafayette for a share of the west division championship.

The Trojans entered the Sun Belt Tournament as the No. 2 seed and advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2004 with a 66-60 win over Florida Atlantic. UALR’s season came to an end in the semis at the hands of eventual champion, and NCAA Sweet 16 participant, Western Kentucky. As a testament to the defense-first mentality each of Shields’ teams possess, the 2007-08 Trojans ended the year ranked No. 3 in the country in three-point field goal percentage defense (.290).

Prior to taking over as head coach of the Trojans, Shields spent three years as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator under head coach Porter Moser for a UALR program which won 18 games in three-consecutive seasons. Shields was one of the keys in sparking the biggest turnaround in Sun Belt Conference history, taking a UALR team that won just four games the previous year and leading it to an 18-11 record in the 2000-01 season.

The Trojans followed that with another 18-11 season, despite losing four seniors and the top three scorers from the previous year, and an 18-12 mark in the 2002-03 season.

Shields came to UALR after a four-year stint as head coach at McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas. At MCC, Shields led the Highlanders to a regional championship in 1997-98 and their first national tournament appearance in 22 years. Shields was voted the Texas Junior College Coach of the Year by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches following the 1997-98 season and received Region V Coach of the Year honors as well.

During Shields’ first year as head coach at McLennan, the Highlanders were co-champions of the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference.

Previously, Shields had been an assistant at McLennan for three seasons and helped lead the Highlanders to a combined 80-13 record. Twice, MCC was ranked in the top 10 nationally and finished the 1992-93 regular season ranked as the No. 2 team in the country.

Before making the move to collegiate athletics, Shields was the athletic director and head football and basketball coach at his alma mater, Reicher Catholic High School in Waco. His football team claimed a district title after winning just one game the previous season, and Shields led his basketball team to a 23-8 record after the squad won just two games the previous year.

Shields was also a collegiate athlete, beginning at Oklahoma City University, where he sat out his freshman year as a redshirt before transferring to McLennan and playing basketball for a year. He then transferred to Baylor University where he played golf for his father, longtime Baylor coach Gene Shields, and earned All-Southwest Conference honors in 1987.

Shields, born March 9, 1965, earned his bachelor’s of science in education in 1988 and a master’s in education in 1992, both at Baylor. He has one son, Hayden Dieterich Shields, born Sept. 17, 2001; and one daughter, Halle Elisabeth Shields, born Sept. 23, 2005.