Tag: Arkansas men’s basketball

Meet Hornets rookie Nick Smith Jr., who thinks he can be one of the NBA’s top passers someday

For The Win caught up with NBA draft prospect Nick Smith Jr.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published prior to the NBA Draft and has been updated.

Although Nick Smith Jr.’s productivity on the basketball court was limited, the 19-year-old Arkansas star who was once the top high school player in the country is ready for the NBA.

Since his days as a one-and-done at Arkansas ended, he’s ramped up the intensity.

“The pre-draft process has been one of the best offseasons I’ve had in a long time,” Smith recently told For The Win. “I’m just working on my game each and every day and getting my body prepared for an 82-game season.”

Smith was a McDonald’s All-American who participated in the Jordan Brand Classic and the Nike Hoop Summit in 2022. After playing one season of college basketball at Arkansas, he is a projected lottery pick in Thursday’s 2023 NBA Draft.

Here are four things to know about Smith before the draft.

[mm-video type=video id=01h3cg4b4m53vnpsacyf playlist_id=01h2dpprctjbp0gfpa player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01h3cg4b4m53vnpsacyf/01h3cg4b4m53vnpsacyf-f268b24caee42b5c3acd93e5fc34f978.jpg]

How Arkansas’ athletic season compared with the nation’s best

According to CBS Sports, Arkansas had the best athletic year among SEC schools in 2021-22.

Arkansas athletics had a memorable year in 2021-22.

A handful of accomplishments include Football winning games and a New Year’s Day bowl game. Men’s basketball competed in their second-straight Elite 8. Baseball earned yet another trip to the College World Series, and softball won its’ second consecutive SEC regular season crown while taking home its first SEC Softball Tournament title.

The main word to describe Arkansas’ season was “consistency”, and have been rewarded for such.

CBS Sports recently revealed their list of “Best in College Sports” rankings from last academic year, Arkansas lands at No. 5 on the list, and was ranked the highest among SEC teams.

According to CBS Sports, The National Association of College Directors of Athletics (NACDA) has ranked athletic programs for years by weighing every sport equally. (For example: National titles in football and water polo are worth the same number of points.) In 2013, CBS Sports began presenting its Best in College Sports award utilizing a weighted formula that recognizes sports with more broad interest. Every FBS program is rated in three sports — football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball — along with two “wild cards” among the school’s most successful spectator sports: baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, gymnastics, lacrosse, hockey and wrestling.

The 2022-23 athletic season officially begins on August 18, when Volleyball opens their campaign with a road match against Missouri State.

Here’s a look at how Arkansas stacked up among the nation’s best according to CBS Sports:

Eric Musselman shares positive thoughts on Dave Van Horn

Head Coach Eric Musselman has been spotted in Omaha cheering on Arkansas Baseball. On Monday, he shared his thoughts on Dave Van Horn with SiriusXM’s SEC Radio

Arkansas baseball has received tons of fan support as they compete in the College World Series for the 11th time in history. The leader of the program for seven of those trips has been head coach [autotag]Dave Van Horn[/autotag].

Not only have Razorback fans trekked to Omaha to cheer on the Razorbacks, but so have leaders of other sports. Athletic Director [autotag]Hunter Yurachek[/autotag], head football coach [autotag]Sam Pittman[/autotag], and head men’s basketball coach [autotag]Eric Musselman[/autotag] were all spotted in the stands of Arkansas’ game with Ole Miss on Monday night.

Prior to the game against the Rebels, head coach Eric Musselman joined SEC Radio on Sirius XM to discuss a handful of topics, including the success of all athletic programs at the University of Arkansas. Since Razorbacks Baseball is competing in the College World Series, baseball and head coach Dave Van Horn were brought up as well.

During the interview, Musselman described the success that Van Horn has had at Arkansas, even saying that he is the greatest of all time.

“There’s just a lot of really, really cool things that’s happened with our athletic department. There is pressure with the baseball team. There’s pressure with all of the sports. I mean, you look at what the men’s and women’s track team does. But, certainly, Dave Van Horn is the G.O.A.T. To see what he’s done. To have one good year, anybody can do that. But when you sustain success year after year after year like Coach Van Horn has done, he truly is a legend in the coaching profession.” 

The Razorbacks look to extend their stay at the College World Series on Tuesday, but will need to take care of Auburn to do so. First pitch between the Razorbacks and Tigers is set for 6 p.m. CDT.

[mm-video type=video id=01g1shgh4b9j94cpnr58 playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g1shgh4b9j94cpnr58/01g1shgh4b9j94cpnr58-ae850d034b4fdb67c34a153bb56fa1e2.jpg]

[listicle id=9461]