Foley to remain as Trojan head coach
Little Rock Sports
Tyler Morrison, Associate Director of Communications
LITTLE ROCK – Head coach Joe Foley has announced his intention to stay at the helm of the Little Rock women’s basketball program and will not be pursuing any other coaching opportunities.
A new contract with new terms is in the works to keep the NCAA’s seventh-winningest active Division I head coach with the Trojans. The new deal shows the department’s sustained commitment to the continued success of the women’s basketball program which has thrived and flourished under Foley’s tenure.
“We are beyond thrilled to have Joe Foley remain as our head women’s basketball coach at Little Rock,” said Director of Athletics Chasse Conque. “Joe has brought tremendous regional and national recognition to our program and university through his tireless work as a leader and mentor to our student-athletes. I look forward to working with Joe and his staff as we continue our efforts to take our program to new heights.”
Foley is coming off a year unlike any other in his 15-year tenure with Trojans as he accomplished a multitude of milestones throughout the 2017-18 season. Foley earned his fifth Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year award after guiding the Trojans to their second consecutive Sun Belt Regular-Season Championship with a 17-1 record.
The team then won the Sun Belt Tournament Championship for the fourth time and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time — all of which have come under Foley’s tenure. The Trojans’ NCAA Tournament appearance put Little Rock in a postseason tournament for the 10th time in the last 11 years.
Little Rock also tallied a 20-win season for the 11th time in the past 12 seasons as it finished the year with 23 victories. Since Foley’s arrival at Little Rock in 2003, the Trojans have won a combined 15 Sun Belt Regular Season, Tournament and Division Championships.
Foley became the Sun Belt Conference’s all-time winningest coach with his 182nd conference win on Feb. 27. Just two days earlier, Foley earned his 300th win as the head coach of the Trojans. In the second game of conference play on Dec. 31, Foley tallied his 750th career win and was just the 12th Division I head coach in women’s basketball history to accomplish the feat. On Feb. 1, Foley coached in his 1,000th career game and led the Trojans to victory once again.
Foley’s love of defense continued to shine in 2017-18 as Little Rock had the nation’s sixth-best scoring defense with 53.8 points allowed per game. That total led the Sun Belt Conference for the sixth consecutive season and was the 12th time in the last 13 seasons.
The Arkansas native’s entire coaching career has resided in the Natural State. Before coming to Little Rock, Foley served as Arkansas Tech’s head coach from 1987 to 2003 after serving three seasons as the men’s assistant coach. Before getting into the college game, Foley was an assistant coach for Morrilton High School’s men’s team from 1981 to 1984. Foley served as the head coach for both men’s and women’s basketball at Oxford High School from 1979 to 1981 after earning his bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Arkansas in 1979.