It was a truly SpectacUALR night for both Derek Fisher and the University of Arkansas – Little Rock department of athletics.
The New York Knicks head coach and Little Rock Trojan was the honoree at the seventh annual SpectacUALR fundraiser on Thursday night, which raised $320,000—more than $100,000 more than any previous year.
“SpectacUALR 2015 will be remembered as one of the more memorable nights in our department’s history,” said UALR Director of Athletics Chasse Conque. “It was special to recognize Derek as this year’s honoree and we are thankful he agreed to come back during this busy time to spend a couple nights with us… Derek Fisher has always remained committed to making time for his alma mater and the people of Little Rock.”
Derek began his acceptance speech trying to express just how humbled he was to come back to his hometown and be honored by his alma mater. D-Fish played at UALR from 1992-96, where he was a two-time All-Sun Belt Conference selection and was the SBC Player of the Year in his senior campaign.
“I don’t do well with people saying a lot of nice things about me,” Derek said with a smile to start his speech. “I grew up right here in Little Rock, and I haven’t done anything for the attention or notoriety—I just do things I believe in and I’m passionate about and just try to work as hard as I can. So all the nice things that have been said—thank you. I can’t thank you enough.”
Fish also thanked Triple-S Alarm, the event’s primary sponsor, as well as the rest of the many supporters of the event. He of course thanked his family and his parents, including his mother, Annette, who was instrumental in starting the event seven years ago. She was its first honoree, and Conque announced on Thursday night that the award will now be renamed the Fisher Award.
Since its inception in 2009, SpectacUALR has raised more than $1.4 million for Little Rock Trojan athletics. As a part of his time back in his hometown of Little Rock, Derek met with student-athletes as a part of the university’s life skills program. As he explained in his speech, the entire goal of the SpectacUALR event is to support Trojan student-athletes, and it certainly met that objective this year.
“Impacting others is really what we were all created and designed to do,” Derek said. “I just want to encourage us to make sure that impacting other people is truly what continues to inspire us and motivate us and challenge us and push us. … It doesn’t end tonight. This is one night, one event.”
Derek also made the rounds with news outlets around Little Rock. Additionally, D-Fish made an appearance at his other alma mater, Parkview High School, to speak with the young student-athletes. It was a great opportunity for the New York head coach to practice exactly what he preached during his speech on Thursday: making a positive impact in the lives of others.
In concluding his speech, he talked about how the arrival of a new teammate, Joe Stephens, during his time at UALR changed his outlook on his future. During their first meeting, Stephens asked if Derek aspired to go to the NBA—something the point guard had never really considered. But that one conversation changed everything for Fish.
“Sometimes you don’t know you’re impacting others by just being yourself and who you are,” Derek explained. “I came to school here on a scholarship, but really to get the education that was going to lead to the good job in Little Rock. I interned at Bell and Co. accounting firm in the summers, and that was pretty much going to be my thing…Sometimes we don’t know that a simple word of encouragement changes peoples’ lives. It’s great to be successful, but what do we do with that, how do we share it and impact somebody else?”