Category: Arkansas basketball

Two CBS Sports analysts pick Hogs to win SEC, vote Eric Musselman Coach of the Year

No team in the SEC had more first-place predictions among CBS’ panel than Arkansas.

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CBS Sports, which has been considered the network home of college basketball for more than four decades, released its expert analyst predictions about the SEC earlier this week and Arkansas sits awfully high.

Gary Parrish and Kyle Boone tabbed the Razorbacks to win the SEC, while David Cobb has Arkansas second, Jerry Palm has the Hogs third and Matt Norlander pegs them fourth. The only team to receive as many first-place votes as Arkansas was defending regular-season champion Alabama. Tennessee picked up a first-place vote from Palm.

The Associated Press preseason Top 25 was similar. The Crimson Tide are ranked 14th, Arkansas is 16th and the Volunteers are 18th. Kentucky is the highest-ranked team at No. 10, but nary a CBS analyst picked the Wildcats as the top team in the league. Two picked them as second, but two others picked them fourth.

Musselman was named Preseason Coach of the Year by the panel as a whole. He is injected at least six new faces into the expected rotation this year, three of whom could be starters.

“There will be a lot of new faces contributing at Arkansas this season — but the results should be similar and cause Bud Walton Arena to be one of college basketball’s best environments,” Parrish wrote.

Arkansas, fresh off an Elite Eight appearance – its deepest run in 25 years, begins the 2021-22 regular season Tuesday at Bud Walton Arena against Mercer.

Arkansas squeezes past North Texas

The Razorbacks played an exhibition against a Conference USA opponent, with portions of the proceeds going to COVID relief.

Arkansas needed a opponent the caliber of North Texas before opening regular season play.

On Saturday at Bud Walton Arena, the Razorbacks were able to dispatch the Mean Green, 68-60.

JD Notae led all scorers with 21 points, while Chris Lykes had 14 and Stanley Umude contributed 12.

Arkansas was without Jaylin Williams in the contest, which probably led to UNT outrebounding the Hogs 42-28.

Defensively was where Arkansas showed it had made the most improvement, limiting the Mean Green to just 4 of 26 shooting from the perimeter.

Davonte ‘Devo’ Davis got in early foul trouble and only scored 7 points, playing with four fouls the majority of the second half.

Now Eric Musselman gets more than a week to prepare for the season opener against Mercer on November 9.

 

Arkansas cross country men and women sweep SEC titles

Arkansas won the SEC titles in both men’s and women’s in the same year for the 19th time since 1991.

The Arkansas mens and womens cross country teams both captured SEC championships on a wet day at Gans Creek on Friday.

The Hogs women won their ninth straight XC league title and 22nd overall. The men picked up their 27th overall with the win.

Krissy Gear won the bronze medal in leading the women to victory. She was followed by Isabel Van Camp in 10th, Lauren Gregory in 12th and Meghan Underwood in 18th. Their finishes helped hold off Ole Miss and Alabama, which finished second and third.

“We’re overjoyed. We knew that if there was going to be an ultimate challenge it was going to be this year. It’s getting tougher because the SEC is catching up with us, particularly by Alabama and Ole Miss,” Arkansas coach Lance Harter said.

On the mens side, Amon Kimboi finished with the silver medal to pace the way for the No. 6 Hogs. He was 3 1/2 seconds behind winner Eliud Kipsang of Alabama. Jacob McLeod was the next Arkansas finisher in fifth, while Myles Richter, Andrew Kibet and Emmanuel Cheboson went 10th, 11th and 12th.

It was the 19th time since joining the SEC in 1991 that Arkansas won both the men’s and women’s titles in the same year.

The 5-foot-7 Chris Lykes is adjusting to Hogs basketball

Chris Lykes may have started in the doghouse a bit, but he’s come in for Arkansas basketball in the last month.

Chris Lykes is an easy man to spot on the Arkansas basketball court. Look for the smallest guy out there.

The 5-foot-7 graduate transfer from Miami (FL) was a star with the Hurricanes and was considered one of the best players in the transfer portal. Arkansas considered it a coup when it landed him as he’s shown his size isn’t a hindrance, but a bonus.

Still, Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman had said Lykes’ transition from Miami to Arkansas had been rocky. He averaged 15 points a game or more in each of his last three seasons in south Florida. But there he was practically required to be a primary scorer.

That isn’t the case at Arkansas.

“The attention to detail is really new for Chris,” Musselman said a month ago. “I think he’s at his best when he’s just kind of balling or just playing. We’re going to need him to know the plays at the off guard and the point guard position. He’s not there right now understanding the third and fourth option at both those positions.”

Arkansas has a pair of top guards. JD Notae is a similarly styled player and has already spent a couple years in the system. He’s also a preseason All-SEC first-teamer. Devo Davis runs the point and was named preseason All-SEC second-team earlier this week. As it stands, Lykes is the third guard and likely the first off the bench for either one of those players.

Musselman’s marks were a month ago. Since, the Hogs have played both their public intra-squad scrimmage and their first exhibition game. Lykes had 14 on 6 of 10 shooting in the former and 13 points with two assists and two steals in the latter.

Davis has been impressed with how far his elder teammate has come in a month.

“He’s adapting really well, I can tell you that,” Davis said. “From when he first stepped on campus to now, his motor has changed, his demeanor of the game has changed. You could really tell if you were at practice. You can tell in a game, as well.”

Hogs basketball No. 15 in Ferris Mower Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll

Arkansas basketball ranked even higher in coaches poll than in AP poll.

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Most around the Arkansas basketball team were happy when the Razorbacks were pegged at the No. 16 team in the preseason in the Associated Press Top 25.

The coaches one-upped the AP.

Coach Eric Musselman’s bunch is the No. 15 team in the Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll, powered by USA TODAY Sports, as it was named Wednesday.

Arkansas is one of five SEC teams in the Top 25. Kentucky was highest at No. 11. Alabama was No. 13. Tennessee was No. 17 and Auburn was No. 22. LSU was the only SEC team to garner any votes and the Tigers registered only two points, which would place them tied for 43rd.

The SEC is expected to be a league of haves and have-nots in basketball as the top five teams are expected to be high-seed qualifiers for the NCAA Tournament, but few others are expected to even get into the Dance.

Arkansas opens its regular season November 9 at home against Mercer.

UPDATE: 5-Star Arkansas commit Nick Smith Jr. eligible to play HS basketball this season

Arkansas 5-star commit and No. 6 commit in country now declared eligible to play senior season of high school.

Less than 48 hours after a firestorm of blowback regarding the status of Arkansas high school basketball player Nick Smith’s eligibility, the 5-star guard and Razorbacks commit is now eligible to play in the 2021-22 season for his new high school.

Smith’s was initially declared ineligible to play for North Little Rock High School after transferring from Sylvan Hills High School. Smith had played for Sylvan Hills, which is in the Pulaski County Special School District, for the previous three seasons, but chose to play his senior year at NLRHS. A member school with the Arkansas Activities Association, the athletic governing body of high school athletics in the state, had reported a violation with the transfer. After initial investigation, Smith was declared ineligible.

Wednesday afternoon, the superintendents of the two school districts announced they had signed paperwork to allow Smith to play for North Little Rock this season.

The violation in question arose from Smith’s personal training with trainers who also volunteer with North Little Rock. As the trainers had not signed a release form stating who they had trained when they began with NLRHS and Smith was among those trained, it constituted an impropriety.

Ultimately, the superintendents decided the impropriety was inadvertent and a Changing Schools/Athletic Participation document was signed making Smith eligible.

Smith is the No. 6 recruit in the country, per ESPN.

Hogs pick up two – Notae and Davis – on All-SEC coaches team

Two returners from last year’s Elite Eight team made the coaches preseason All-SEC team for Arkansas basketball.

Arkansas had two selections on the preseason All-SEC coaches teams that were released Tuesday.

Guards JD Notae and Devo Davis were both named by the league’s coaches as all-conference. Notae was on the first team. Davis was on the second team.

Notae was the team’s sixth man last year, but was still on third on the team in scoring 12.8 points per game. He also led the team defensively on the perimeter, averaging 1.3 steals a game.

Davis started 17 of the team’s 30 games last year and was a staple in the lineup as the season went on, earning more and more minutes. He’s the team’s best playmaker and an aggressive rebounder. Davis averaged 8.5 points and 4.5 rebounds as the point guard last year.

Notae is largely expected to shift into a starting role with Arkansas this season. The Razorbacks return four of their nine regulars from last year, but lose three of their last four scorers. An influx of transfers, including guards Chris Lykes from Miami (FL) and Stanley Umude from South Dakota.

Arkansas opened its exhibition season on Sunday against Division II East Central, winning 77-74, and plays its second exhibition Saturday against North Texas. The Razorbacks open the regular season November 9 against Mercer in Bud Walton Arena.

Arkansas 5-star commit Nick Smith Jr. ruled ineligible

Arkansas basketball 5-star commit Nick Smith Jr. ruled ineligible in transfer fiasco.

Arkansas basketball commit Nick Smith Jr. is ready to play for the Razorbacks next year. The question is where he is going to play this year.

Smith, the North Little Rock High School guard, a 5-star player who committed to coach Eric Musselman’s Hogs earlier this month, has been ruled ineligible to play for NLRHS this season. The reason? It’s complicated.

But the gist comes down to Smith and his family having moved from the Pulaski County Special School district over the summer to the North Little Rock school district. Allegations of “recruiting” followed and after the state’s high school sports governing body, the Arkansas Activities Association, investigated the case.

That’s where things get tricky and drawn into a battle of he-said, she-said, as it were.

Smith and his family have said their movement into North Little Rock was a family decision only and unrelated to basketball.

 

North Little Rock School District stated that AAA said it violated two rules and Smith was ruled ineligible to play and the boys’ basketball program was given a one year warning.

Don’t expect this to be forgotten about, or even cleared up, any time soon.

Arkansas avoids upset against East Central

Arkansas could have easily found itself in the loss column after its first exhibition Sunday, but came back and won at Bud Walton Arena.

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One casual look at the box score from Sunday afternoon’s exhibition in Bud Walton Arena would indicate that Arkansas should have likely lost to Division II East Central University.

The Tigers, who hail from Ada, Okla., held a 37-35 halftime lead and actually enjoyed a double digit cushion at times in the second half before the Razorbacks closed with a flourish and eventually won 77-74.

Arkansas, which opened 16th in the Associated Press Top 25, obviously has some kinks it needs to work out before next Saturday’s final exhibition with North Texas and definitely before the season opener Nov. 9 against Mercer.

“Offensively, they came out in the first half and wanted it more than we did,” Arkansas forward Au’Diese Toney said. “We played too relaxed.”

The Razorbacks also shot the ball terribly as a whole, finishing 44 percent from the field but 13 percent from behind the arc.

They also only made 59 percent of their opportunities from the charity stripe (17 of 29).

“We left a lot of points at the line,” Toney said.

Eric Musselman was truly puzzled in his postgame press conference as to what transpired.

“Behind closed doors, we have not seen the lack of shooting like we did today,” Musselman said. “I was astonished at the lack of physical conditioning that we exhibited early.”

The lack of someone emerging as the primary ball handler is also perplexing Musselman.

“Our point guard play is a concern right now,” Musselman said.

Devo Davis led Arkansas with 20 points while JD Notae had 17. Chris Lykes, the transfer from Miami, had 13 off the bench while Toney, a Pittsburgh transfer, had 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

Arkansas will be back in action on Saturday. Tipoff against the Mean Green is slated for 4 p.m.

Former Arkansas guard Moses Moody makes NBA debut

Former Arkansas guard Moses Moody is officially an NBA guard now after debuting on Wednesday.

The 2021-22 NBA season began in earnest Wednesday and one former Arkansas basketball player made his NBA debut.

Golden State Warriors rookie Moses Moody scored two points in six minutes in the Warriors’ 121-114 to win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Moody was the 14th overall pick in the draft over the summer. The Little Rock native played one season at Arkansas, but was a first-team All-SEC selection and arguably the best player on a Razorbacks team that had its best season in more than 20 years.

Moody scored his first career basket, and his only basket of the game, on All-NBA first-team selection and former Kentucky Wildcats big man Anthony Davis.

Four other former Arkansas players made NBA opening day/night roster. Another Little Rock native, Bobby Portis, would have played in Milwaukee’s season opener on Tuesday night against the Brooklyn Nets, but an ongoing hamstring injury kept him from suiting.

The other three former Razorbacks ballers are guard Patrick Beverley (Minnesota Timberwolves), guard Isaiah Joe (Philadelphia 76ers) and center Daniel Gafford (Washington Wizards). All three of their teams open the season Wednesday night.