[4] Arseneault's son, David Jr., who played under his father at Grinnell, later served on his staff and eventually succeeded him as Pioneers head coach.
After a couple years of trying out traditional eight-player rotations, he felt Grinnell needed to change its basketball philosophy to rejuvenate the team and have more fun.
Over 26 years, Grinnell won four conference championships, advanced to the postseason 11 times, and led the nation in scoring at all levels of college basketball in 17 of the past 19 seasons.
"[15] Earlier as a player with Grinnell, David Jr. once set the national record for assists in a game (34) when the team was instructed to shoot only if they received the pass from him.
[18] Critics have hinted that Arseneault designed the Grinnell System as a scheme to get national attention and sell books.
Preston countered that the system started as a means to turn around a losing program; he added that Arseneault was a member of the Grinnell faculty and expected to share his insights with peers in his field.