Rival coach and friend heeps praise on Salty

BENTON — Some of the biggest praises about Brian “Salty” Longing becoming the head boys basketball coach at Conway came from a rival coach with a parallel experience. “I’m so excited he got the job,” said Johnny Rice, the head coach at North Little Rock during a break at the Arkansas Basketball Coaches Association awards banquet Thursday at the Benton Event Center. “No one loves Conway more than he does. He deserved the job. We’re really good friends; we’ve talked about this about every day.” Rice was a member of the party in Longing’s wedding, part of a friendship that resulted from several common experiences. “I played at Northeast (High School in North Little Rock) when he played at Conway,” Rice said. “Then, I played at Ouachita (Baptist University) when he played at Hendrix. I started coaching at North Little Rock as he did at Conway. We both started in junior high and served for a long time as assistant coaches at our schools. I’m North Little Rock to the core and he’s Conway to the core. We’ve coached a lot of games against each other. “Because we’ve known each other for so long and have had similar stories, we’ve become great friends. When I heard coach (Will) Johnson was leaving, I was hoping he would get the job. It’s his turn.” Longing, who grew up playing for the Wampus Cats, had served as a varsity assistant at Conway for 16 years. Ronnie Jones, now an insurance salesman in Conway, was Longing’s first coach at Conway Junior High. “I was there when it all started for him; he was a point guard on some good teams ands you could tell then he was a student of the game and a leader,” Jones said. Longtime Hendrix coach Cliff Garrison saw Longing’s development as a point guard for the Warriors. “I’m tickled to death he got the job,” Garrison said. “I watched him grow up. He has always been a competitor. And he is one of the finest people you’d ever want to know, on and off the court. He’s ready to be a head coach. “As a point guard, he had to have a feel for the offense and the ebb and flow of the game. Salty always had great court awareness. He was a coach on the court. It was no surprise he went into coaching.” Longing was a longtime assistant to former CHS coach James Bates, currently the executive director of the ArBCA. The two began coaching together in Conway Junior High. “We grew up in coaching together,” Bates said. “He is a very good coach. He could see things that I couldn’t see and that’s exactly what you want in an assistant. And he’s always had a great relationship with the kids he has coached. He’s deserving of the job.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Conway High School Athletics

RIVAL COACH AND FRIEND HEEPS PRAISE ON SALTY

DAVID MCCOLLUM

The Cabin Democrat | 4/14/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Conway Athletics