Hornets have a new head basketball coach
EDITOR’S NOTE: In this time of COVID-19, with no sports action, BryantDaily.com will be posting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
By Rob Patrick
From a Wasp to a Hornet.
Last season, Mike Abrahamson served as an assistant basketball coach and head cross country coach for the Emery & Henry College Wasps of Emery, Va. In 2010-11, he will be the head basketball coach for the Bryant High School Hornets.
Bryant athletic director Tom Farmer announced the hiring of Abrahamson after the Bryant School Board approved the selection at its Monday, April 19, meeting.[more]
A native of Louisville, Ky., Abrahamson graduated in 2003 after playing three years at forward for the Wasps basketball team. He returned to E&H after four years as an assistant coach and P.E. teacher at Doss High School in his hometown. According to his Emery & Henry bio, he helped the Louisville Doss Dragons to a 78-40 record in those four years.
Abrahamson graduated from DuPont Manual High School in Louisville. He has since received his Master’s in Education from Indiana Wesleyan University.
“He just came in an knocked our socks off,” Farmer said. “He was so impressive with just his mannerism, his knowledge. He gave us a folder of everything he intended to do. He did his research about the school, knew all about it, knew the size, what the team record was last year, what it was the year before.
“He was just an impressive young man,” Farmer added. “Full of spirit, full of ideas and, boy, when we got done, we were just overwhelmed with him.”
His interest in coming to Arkansas, Farmer related, was the fact that his wife Ashlee is a native of the state.
“He said his wife wanted to come back home at some point,” Farmer said. “And he was looking through all the options that were available in Arkansas. And this is what was impressive. He said, after researching the jobs that are available, he felt like Bryant was the best fit for him even though his wife is from northwest Arkansas. And we felt like he was a good fit for us.”
Farmer said the search committee interviewed three candidates after originally receiving 20 applications. That group was narrowed down to six.
“We had set up six interviews,” he said. “Two people called and withdrew the day of the interviews. One called and said he just accepted a job the day before.”
Farmer said the committee interviewed Garry Crowder, the women’s coach at Ouachita Baptist University, and Scott Bowlin of Greene County Tech along with Abrahamson.
