UALR coach reunites with players, announces scholarship

November 23-29, 2015

By Becca Bona

There’s no “I” in team, and at a recent breakfast at the Bailey Center on Thursday Nov. 5, the bond between a team that once called UALR home was as strong as ever.

Former UALR Coach Bill Ballard got up to address a room full of his players, as he talked about the newly created Bill and Juanita Ballard Endowed Student Scholarship.

“It’s really nice to be welcomed back,” he said, a tear in his eyes, looking around the room. He said to his players, “Guys, today is your official welcome home party and I’m so glad that you’re here.”

An Arkansas native, Ballard had ample time to fill out an impressive resume before applying for the first Basketball Coach position with UALR’s predecessor, LRU (Little Rock University.)

He was always very athletic, earning a three year letterman in both basketball and baseball during his time at the College of the Ozarks. He was responsible for the revival of the baseball program at the Ozarks, and while there served a brief stint as the Dean of Men.

If that wasn’t enough proof that he could be a great coach for LRU, he also fought in Korea with the Arkansas National Guard, and was a Master Sergeant at the age of 21.

Thus, in the early ‘60s, he was the choice for the first head basketball coach at LRU. At the breakfast, UALR’s director of athletics Chasse Conque said, “We all have coaches throughout our time but the bond you have, the comradery, the passion – it’s really something special and I’m glad to be a part of it.”

After presenting his players with their induction into the Trojan Letterman’s Association, Ballard commented on just how far UALR has come.

“There are 1700 students here now … certainly those of us that used the old gymnasium in our time had no idea we would live to see what’s now across the street,” he said, amidst laughter.

Ballard then became more serious, sharing a story of why he feels that he has an angel watching over him.

“It was in the Ozarks where I grew up … Bobby Pesterfield and I decided to grow squirrel hunting in the mountain.

We weren’t making much progress finding squirrels, so we decided we would shoot at other things – tin cans, whatever. We came up on this abandoned house that nobody had lived in for years.”

He and Pesterfield were about to shoot out a single window pain when he had the idea to check to see inside first. It was a good thing, because there was a woman sitting in the house, who he would have killed for sure if they had shot.

The story has stayed with him, and even now when Ballard has given so much of his time to UALR through coaching and otherwise, he encouraged his team to find a way back to the institution.

“Guys, get involved, please. You will be rewarded more than you can ever possibly imagine.”