Scott Cross Ready to Awaken Troy Basketball

Newly minted head men’s basketball coach Scott Cross has unfinished business in the Sun Belt.

After a long tenure at Texas-Arlington and a short pit stop at TCU, Cross has returned to the Sun Belt with the intent of guiding Troy to becoming a conference power.

Cross was hired on Tuesday, introduced to the team on Wednesday and then to the rest of Troy on Thursday. Now he’s heading to New York because top-seeded TCU has reached the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament and has a meeting with rival Texas on Tuesday.

So before the Cross era begins in earnest next week, I’m going to breakdown here what kind of coach Troy is getting.

Cross was born in Arlington and played college ball at UTA before becoming an assistant coach at UTA in 1998. A decade later, Cross was named head coach at UTA.

In the 38 seasons prior to Cross’ first, the Mavericks had a grand total of 10 winning seasons and two 20-plus win seasons. In the 12 season Cross era, UTA had nine winning seasons and five 20-plus win seasons.

When Cross took over, UTA was a mid-to-low tier Southland Conference team without a basketball arena. Instead, the Mavericks played their games inside Texas Hall.

In front of less than 1,000 fans per game, Cross went from 13 wins in year one to 21 wins and the program’s first and only NCAA Tournament appearance in year two.

Cross’ teams struggled with turnovers early on but quickly established a strong inside presence. The Mavericks were instrumental in getting to the paint and finding open mid-range jump shots.

Here’s a look at how Cross’ first three teams faired when shooting inside the arc.

Year	2P%	Rank
2006-07	50.8	89
2007-08	52.5	35
2008-09	53.4	19

 

Attrition due to an unbalanced roster took its toll over the next few seasons, leaving Cross with a young, inexperienced group. The Mavericks were 330th in average experience during the 2010-11 season, leading to a 13-16 season.

The next year, though, was a testament to Cross’ developmental abilities. His young, turnover-challenged squad became a machine that mowed down the Southland conference during the regular season.

UTA went 24-9 and 15-1 in conference play during 2011-12, winning 16 games in a row at one point. The Mavericks played lightning fast and were stifling on defense.

The average possession lasted just 15.3 seconds back when the shot clock was a full 35 seconds. UTA was top-75 in block percentage (11 percent) and steal percentage (10.9 percent).

Cross took advantage of the talents his roster afforded him. Wingman Lamarcus Reed was the primary scorer (17.8 PPG), but Bo Ingram (12.8 PPG) and Kevin Butler (10.8) were often used.

During his introductory press conference, Cross talked about recruiting tough players to play tough games. The 2011-12 season is a snapshot at what kind of team Cross is looking to build.

Five players averaged at least 3.7 rebounds per game while 11 players were bringing down at least one rebound a game. The group was extremely adept at drawing fouls, too, leading the Southland in both free throw attempts and made free throws. The Mavericks found 24.7 percent of their points at the free throw line that season.

Their bid for a spot in the NCAA Tournament came to an end in a conference tournament semifinal loss to McNeese State.

UTA got an invite to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), though, its first since 1981.

It followed that postseason appearance up with another the next season in the CIT. After that, another roster rebuild ensued and the result was the Sun Belt power we’ve come to know out of Arlington.

The Mavericks were once again a speedy team, flying up the court and getting a quick shot up. Sound familiar? Here are the average possession lengths for UTA during Cross’ last three years there.

Year	Time	Rank
2015-16	15.5	22
2016-17	16.1	59
2017-18	15.5	17

 

The Mavericks were a force inside and had an athletic defense to accompany its offensive attack, unlike the first initial roster build.

When UTA lost, it was often because it had failed to protect its own lane. In 2015-16, opponents hit just 44.4 percent of its two point shots (27th) and 47.9 percent in 2017-18 (85th).

In 33 losses over three seasons, opponents shot over 50 percent from inside the three point line in 21 of those games.

UTA peaked at 27 wins in 2016-17, a program record. Despite all the success, the Mavericks could not win the Sun Belt tournament.

The year Troy won the conference championship game, regular season title holder UTA had been bounced in the semifinals by Texas State.

Instead, the Mavericks ended up in the NIT for the second time in the Cross era. This time, UTA made it to the quarterfinals while beating BYU and Akron in the process. Both were KenPom top-100 teams.

Cross had developed a propensity for shocking stalwart teams while at Arlington, something that could have a strong impact in Troy.

During the Cunningham era, Troy played 63 teams that finished inside the KenPom top-150. The Trojans were 14-49 (.286) in such games.

Cross’ teams saw a massive step up in competition when the Mavericks moved from Southland to WAC to Sun Belt. According to sports-reference.com, the average strength of schedule during Cross’ six seasons in the Southland was -4.82. In five seasons in the Sun Belt, it’s been -1.88.

Despite the sizable step up in competition, the Mavericks started their best run of success in program history. That’s adaptability.

In five seasons in the Sun Belt, UTA went 18-39 (.462) against KenPom top-150 teams. That includes wins over Texas, BYU, Memphis, Ohio State and a top-15 nationally ranked St. Mary’s team.

In comparison, Troy’s biggest non-conference wins in the last five years are over East Tennessee State, Western Kentucky and UAB.

Perhaps the biggest plus for Troy is that it now has the coach who routinely washed the Trojans in conference play. From 2016-18, Troy went 1-4 against the Mavericks. The average score in those four losses was 87-65.3.

One of the biggest questions of the new era is simply how long? Cross was the head man in Arlington for 12 seasons and didn’t make it a true power until year 10.

In that time, though, Cross saw his team move into a shiny new arena and move into a much better basketball conference. Once that happened, the talent became easier to bring in.

At Troy, the foundation is already there. Everything that Cross didn’t have at Arlington, he has at Troy. The program already has high-level facilities and a base for creating and capitalizing on exposure, making Troy a brand that has the potential to reach further than the state of Alabama.

Talent pools in Atlanta will truly be tapped into by Troy coaches for the first time as the roster footprint will likely grow under a coach who sees the value in city-based recruiting.

It may take a few seasons, but Cross has a long resume in the Sun Belt and the relationship-building character needed to bring in talented athletes. He’s even got a draft pick in Kevin Hervey in his recruiting pitch repertoire.

The other big question is this: can Cross get over the hump and win his first Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship?

Troy is about to find out.