A stranger’s unselfish act saves coach’s life
Ericka Downey grew up in Ratcliff, Ark., playing basketball and softball for County Line High School.
Ratcliff is in Logan County and has a population of about 190.
She attended and graduated from Arkansas Tech University where she met her husband Mark Downey who was the Wonder Boys’ head basketball coach for four years. They have two sons, and Mark is now the head coach at Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Okla., where their life is very good.
Last year, Ericka made a life-changing decision for a stranger.
Billy Clyde Gillispie, a former basketball head coach at Texas A&M, Kentucky and Texas Tech, was on a kidney transplant list. His time was getting critical, but he was not close to the top of the list.
When Billy Clyde left Tech in a roar he said he had health issues but refused to disclose any personal information.
Three years after he left Tech he got back into basketball on his terms (all he ever wanted to do was teach the game) at Ranger (Texas) College, but his health problems were getting worse.
Ericka, whose husband had met Billy Clyde, decided she would donate one of her kidneys to him.
Since she declared she wanted the kidney to go to Billy Clyde, proper testing was done and he was taken off the donor list where surgery was scheduled.
Last year at the Final Four in San Antonio they met for the first time, and a couple of weeks later they met again in a surgical hospital where the transplant was performed without any problems.
Billy Clyde is back at Ranger where he’s 18-2 this season and healthier than he’s been in years.
Ericka Downey is busy with her children, church, career and uses social media to encourage people to support her husband’s basketball team.
A really good person with small-town Arkansas values who some might call an angel who saved a life because of one totally unselfish decision.
★★★
Here’s some of the differences in the University of Arkansas Razorbacks when they play defense, differences in why they won instead of lost to Missouri which led by 13 early and looked like they might blow the Hogs out.
They played defense the way it is supposed to be played. They forced 24 turnovers including 13 steals and converted those into 27 points.
They were unselfish and led by Jalen Harris with six, had 18 assists. Of the nine players who played, eight had at least one assist.
Twice, players took quick shots that were not in the best interest of the team and both were quickly pulled and were sitting on the bench.
They worked the ball, and when freshman Isiah Joe had an open look he got the ball. He made 7 of 12 threes and was 8-13 total. Joe also had three steals and two assists.
They got the ball inside, mainly to Daniel Gafford who got nine shots and scored 13 points, but the Razorbacks outscored the Tigers 30-16 in the paint.
For the Razorbacks, that’s winning basketball.
Now they have a chance to make a statement. This Saturday they travel to Texas Tech to take on the No. 14 ranked Red Raiders who are led by former University of Arkansas at Little Rock head coach Chris Beard.
Beard has on his staff Glynn Cyprien, a former assistant at Arkansas (and also for Billy Gillispie at Kentucky) and Sean Sutton.
Beard led the Trojans to a 30-5 record and beat Purdue in the NCAA Tournament in the 2016. He’s 90-33 as a head coach on the Division I level.
Of course, the Razorbacks and Red Raiders have a long history dating back to the old Southwest Conference, so the game should be fun and interesting.
Both teams emphasize hard-nosed defense, and for the Razorbacks that is critical.