A new book by UALR graduate Jeffrey Slatton tells the dramatic tale of UALR’s upset of Notre Dame in the first round of the 1986 NCAA Tournament.
Arkansas’ NCAA Team, the first book by Slatton, a Arkansas Democrat-Gazette sports writer, tells the previously untold story of the 1985-1986 UALR Trojans and their 90-83 upset powerhouse Notre Dame in the first round of the newly expanded NCAA.
“This was the second year the tournament had been expanded to 64 teams and the upsets that seem to happen so frequently today just didn’t back then,” Slatton said. “Notre Dame was a heavy favorite and very few people outside the state of Arkansas would have given UALR a chance,” he says.
“Arkansas State and Arkansas didn’t make the NCAA Tournament that year and UALR was carrying the weight of the entire state that night. And they pulled it off. The more I researched the story, the more excited I got about the possibility of putting this into book form.”
Arkansas’ NCAA Team will be available at UALR home games at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock. It can also be ordered though the Maddie’s Daddy Productions Web site at: www.jeffreyslatton.com.