Midland College officials must be glad Arnold applied for the position, as they may have found someone to pull the program out of its troubles and back to being the highly respected program it once was.

Arnold has proven he can recruit and win as a head coach and the Chaparrals saw that first hand a few years ago when he led Odessa College to a 159-32 record, two Region V tournament titles and two Elite Eight finishes in the NJCAA. National tournament from 2012 to 2018.

During his introduction on Tuesday, Arnold talked about making the program a powerhouse, not just regionally but nationally.

It harkens back to when Shanon Hays was hired to lead the Chaparrals in 2002, a year after a lost season. He talked about making MC a national powerhouse. He delivered by leading MC to a 30-7 record and a third-place finish in the NJCAA National Tournament. The Chaps would win the national championship in 2007 under Hays’ successor Grant McCasland. MC would play for another national title in 2009 under McCasland and in 2011 under Ross Hodge.

There’s no guarantee Arnold will do the same as Hays, but things can change quickly at the college level.

“I always thought the facilities were nice, the campus was nice, the city was a good community college town,” Arnold said of Midland College’s potential. “You also put the support of the administration, it’s too good an opportunity. We are looking to build something for the long term. It won’t be a short term thing.

The last time Midland College qualified for the playoffs was in 2011. There have been various reasons why the Chaps have failed to qualify for the playoffs over the years, but with everything the program has to offer, there should be no excuses. Over the years, the program has been overtaken by other Western Junior College Athletic Conference programs in much smaller communities and with less to offer than MC.

Arnold was also at the NCAA Division I level when he left OC for an assistant coaching position at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York, for two years before year-long stints at the University. Samford of Birmingham, Alabama, then for personal family. reasons, he and his family moved back to Texas with Tarleton State University under Billy Gillispie last year.

Arnold told the Reporter-Telegram that he had a taste of training at the D-1 level and that he was thirsty for his family to have some stability in an area they knew and that he also wanted. create and manage their own program.

“We’re going to have players playing the right way,” he said. “This will be a team that the community will really support when they learn how well they play defensively. We will play fast offensively and we will try to score points. It will be an exciting brand of basketball. It will be exciting for everyone to come watch and victory will take care of that part.

And you can bet there are people here who crave a consistent winning program at Midland College.

Follow Oscar on Twitter: @OLeRoy_MRT