GRAVETTE -- The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette selected its All-NWADG basketball teams, and Will Pittman of Gravette was selected as coach of the year.
THE SCOOP: Led the Lady Lions to a 25-8 record and the second round of the Class 4A state tournament. Gravette lost to state runner-up Riverview 76-75 in a game that saw starter Callie Kildow break her leg in the first quarter. ... Pittman rebuilt a Gravette program that had fallen on hard times over the course of the past six years. Gravette suffered through 10 straight losing seasons before Pittman turned the program into an elite 4A squad with three straight winning seasons and back-to-back 20-win seasons. ... The Lady Lions handed Berryville just its second loss of the season in the 4A-1 Conference tournament finals. ... Prior to taking over at Gravette, Pittman was an assistant coach under Charles Berry at Huntsville. He also coached at Southside Bee Branch, County Line, and Hampton. ... Pittman and his wife Melissa coached together at Huntsville, and also coached together part of this season when a Gravette assistant took maternity leave and Melissa stepped in to help coach the team.
DID YOU KNOW: Pittman was born in the Netherlands because his father was in the military and stationed there. They eventually settled in Hackett when his father went into school administration and Will graduated from Hackett High School.
QUOTABLE: "It was tough, but I knew that going in," Pittman said of taking over the Gravette program. "I think staying in a place and committing totally to it, which I think is a big deal and that's something that I learned from Coach Berry. He talks a lot about being there and if you want to make a difference, you have to be there. There were some tough years, and it wasn't easy. When you're not winning, things are not great. But I still think you have to pour your heart and soul into it and we said this is where we're going to be and I wanted to build something.
"I'm proud of our program and I'm proud of our kids. I think they buy into our program and what we expect out of them. They all think they should compete and think they should win now, and that's where you want to get a program."
Sports on 04/18/2018