Amber Shirey is the only person who gets an asterisk by her years of service.

While this is her 19th season as a part of the coaching staff, she has been a part of Arkansas women's basketball for the past 22 years.

Arriving in Fayetteville as a highly recruited freshman point guard in 1988, Shirey has always been considered a legend by the fans.

As a player, she took Arkansas to its Southwest Conference pinnacle with two championships, the 1990 NCAA West Regional Finals, and three NCAA appearances.

As a coach, she managed to wipe out her own accomplishments as the 1998 team went one step further by reaching the Final Four.

She broke new ground once again as the executive director of basketball operations for new head coach Tom Collen in 2007-08.

Collen's return reunites the fellow assistant coaches under former Razorbacks' skipper Gary Blair in the late 1990s.

"I really believe our staff would not have been complete without my ability to retain Amber," Collen said. "Everyone in the state identifies Arkansas women's basketball with the tradition that Amber established back in the late 1980s as a point guard."

As the executive director, Shirey brings her duties with scheduling to the existing assignments for the operations director for travel and summer camps. Collen added the responsibility for Shirey as the coordinator for on-campus recruiting activities.

Voted by the University of Arkansas Lettermen's Club into the Arkansas Hall of Honor in 2002, she was honored by the university and the Southeastern Conference at the 2003 women's basketball tournament as one of the league's legendary players.

What appears to be such an incredible career seems rather natural to Shirey.

"This gives me an opportunity to give something back to the program and the people of Arkansas that helped me through my career," Shirey said. "When you're in high school in Arkansas, most kids dream about being a Razorback."

One of the most decorated athletes in women's history at Arkansas, Shirey was the first women's student-athlete selected to receive a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.

She closed her career as one of two players in school history to rank on four career total lists (points, 6th; rebounds, 10th; steals, 2nd; assists, 1st). While no longer Arkansas' all-time assist leader with 538, Shirey still holds the record for consecutive games started, 87. Twice named All-Southwest Conference, she was the MVP of the 1991 SWC tournament, leading Arkansas to the first non-Texas title.

Shirey equaled her court performance in the classroom. A kinesiology major, she had over a 3.9 GPA, and twice was voted to the College Sports Information Directors of America's Academic All-America Team. She was a three-time conference academic team member.

An Arkansas native, Shirey led Newark High to a 36-6 record her senior year and the Class B state title with 28.1 ppg. Senior class president and valedictorian, she graduated with a 4.18 GPA on a 4.00 scale. Shirey was named state player of the year as a senior and two-time AAU All-American, leading the Arkansas Pipers to the 16-and-under national championship in 1987.

She is married to Jason Shirey. Coach of the Fayetteville High softball team, Jason led the Lady Bulldogs to back-to-back state championships in 2006 and 2007. The Shireys have two children, a son, Ross, and a daughter, Reese, and are expecting a third child this fall.