Tag: Connor Vanover

Former Arkansas center Connor Vanover back in SEC

Vanover played two seasons with the Razorbacks before transferring to Oral Roberts last year. Now he’ll play at Mizzou.

Connor Vanover’s wild career will have at least one more stop.

The 7-foot-3 center from Arkansas will play for his fourth school as a college basketball player next year as Vanover selected Missouri out of the transfer portal from Oral Roberts.

Vanover spent two years with the Razorbacks. In his first, he averaged 17 minutes a game. But in his second, he averaged just over six. That led to a transfer to ORU where he found the form that made him a four-star recruit. With the Golden Eagles last year, Vanover averaged 12.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks.

Missouri was a backcourt heavy team last year with seven of its top eight scorers last season listed as guards. The Tigers’ leading rebounder (and scorer), Kobe Brown, chose not to return.

Vanover started his college career at California where he averaged 7.5 points in just over 16 minutes per game before transferring back to his home state.

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Arkansas Basketball: Connor Vanover finds a new home

Connor Vanover isn’t going far to find his new home.

After a month of being in the transfer portal, a former Razorback has found a new home not too far away from Fayetteville.

[autotag]Connor Vanover[/autotag], a Little Rock native and former forward for the Arkansas Razorbacks, has announced that he will be transferring to Oral Roberts University in Tulsa.

In two seasons, Vanover appeared in 44 games for the Razorbacks, starting in 37 of those. The 7-3 forward averaged 5.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game during his career at Arkansas. Vanover saw most of his playing time during his redshirt sophomore season in 2020-21, where he played an average of 17 minutes per game, starting in 27 games.

In the season-opener against Gardner-Webb on November 13, Vanover scored 19 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the 86-69 win over the Bulldogs. Vanover would go on to start in ten games at the five for the Razorbacks this season, but his playing time went down significantly due to the emergence of Stanley Umude’s production.

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Former Hog basketball player picks transfer destination

Arkansas has only three scholarship players currently returning to the basketball team next season.

The turnover from Arkansas basketball’s 2021-22 season officially continued Monday.

Former Arkansas forward Chance Moore, who entered the transfer portal in late March, announced his destination as Missouri State. As of Monday afternoon, the Razorbacks would return only three players next year off this season’s Elite Eight squad.

The 6-foot-5 guard was a four-star recruit coming out of the Georgia high school scene but did not crack the rotation with the Razorbacks. Moore played in just five games during his first and only season in Fayetteville.

Missouri State is about a two-hours drive from Northwest Arkansas. The Bears lost in the first round of the NIT to Oklahoma after going 23-11 during the regular season.

Moore is one of three Arkansas players who announced intentions for the transfer portal, but the first to reveal a destination. Guard [autotag]KK Robinson[/autotag] and center [autotag]Connor Vanover[/autotag] remain outstanding.

5 potential Franck Kepnang replacements the Oregon Ducks should pursue via transfer portal

The Oregon Ducks could use a fourth big man to replace Franck Kepnang. Here are five names in the NCAA transfer portal who could be good fits.

The Oregon Ducks have seen more players depart via the transfer portal this offseason than they have brought in — a trend that Dana Altman is no doubt trying to rectify over the phone this month.

The latest loss, sophomore center Franck Kepnang, is a big one, not just in stature but in role. Kepnang may have only averaged 14.5 minutes per game last season, but he was a vital piece to the team on both offense and defense, and losing him leaves a big hole around the rim.

N’Faly Dante, Nate Bittle and five-star prospect Kel’el Ware is definitely an excellent trio of frontcourt stars, but this team is lacking a fourth big who can protect the rim, snare some rebounds and bring some energy and bravado to the second unit.

While no one can quite replace the unique personality Kepnang brings, there are more than a handful of standout big men in the transfer portal for Altman to reach out to.

Here are five who could fill a role similar to Kepnang’s — and a few would exceed it — should Altman find a way to work his magic and bring them to Eugene:

Arkansas adds another big man from transfer portal: Graham from Arizona State

Arkansas has reloaded in the frontcourt this offseason and its latest portal commit has the Hogs ranked No. 1

Arkansas’ frontcourt has gone from question mark in 2022-23 to likely strength.

The Razorbacks added a fourth player via the transfer portal on Thursday when former Arizona State forward [autotag]Jalen Graham[/autotag] committed to Arkansas. He follows brothers from Rhode Island, Makhi and Makhel Mitchell and former Missouri forward [autotag]Trevon Brazile[/autotag].

Graham, who is 6-foot-9, was a second-team All-Pac 12 player last year for the Sun Devils. He averaged 9.9 points and 4.6 rebounds for Arizona State in his junior season. Graham has two seasons of eligibility left, one of which comes from the COVID-19 exemption by the NCAA.

Graham was a four-star prospect ranked No. 169 in the country when he committed to the Sun Devils in the Class of 2019.

Arkansas lost forward [autotag]Stanley Umude[/autotag] to exhausted eligibility, center [autotag]Connor Vanover[/autotag] to the transfer portal and forward Au’Diese Toney to the NBA draft. Forward [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag] also declared for the draft, but chose not to hire an agent, leaving him eligible for a return next season.

Another Razorback enters name into Transfer Portal

Connor Vanover, who started in 37 games for Arkansas in two seasons, has announced that he will enter his name into the Transfer Portal.

As the offseason rolls on, more changes continue to come to the Arkansas Men’s Basketball roster.

In somewhat expected news, junior forward [autotag]Connor Vanover[/autotag] announced Wednesday on his Instagram page that he has entered his name into the Transfer Portal, joining KK Robinson, who added his name to the portal on April 2.

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Vanover, a native of Little Rock, played two seasons for his home state’s flagship school after transferring from California at the conclusion of his freshman season in 2018-19.

In two seasons, Vanover appeared in 44 games for the Razorbacks, starting in 37 of those. The 7-3 forward averaged 5.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game during his career at Arkansas. Vanover saw most of his playing time during his redshirt sophomore season in 2020-21, where he played an average of 17 minutes per game, starting in 27 games.

In the season-opener against Gardner-Webb on November 13, Vanover scored 19 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the 86-69 win over the Bulldogs. Vanover would go on to start in ten games at the five for the Razorbacks this season, but his playing time went down significantly due to the emergence of Stanley Umude’s production.

The announcement of Vanover to the Transfer Portal is the fifth revision to the 2021-22 roster for Arkansas Basketball. [autotag]JD Notae[/autotag] and [autotag]Au’Diese Toney[/autotag] announced earlier this week that they will enter their name into the NBA Draft after hiring an agent. [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag] says that he will get more information about his NBA Draft stock before making the decision to leave, and [autotag]KK Robinson[/autotag] has entered his name into the Transfer Portal.

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Behind the box score: Vanover, Davis, Notae – the returners – lead the way against Gardner-Webb

The numbers tell only part of the story in Arkansas’ 86-69 win over Gardner-Webb.

A 27-5 run late in the first half was plenty for Arkansas to defeat Gardner-Webb on Saturday at Bud Walton Arena, 86-69.

The Razorbacks received scoring from up and down the roster, outrebounded the Runnin’ Bulldogs, committed fewer turnovers and handled, all the way around, the visitors from North Carolina.

It was a positive step for a team that struggled for 30 of the 40 minutes against Mercer in the season opener Tuesday night. Arkansas’ players looked more comfortable with each other and the Hogs showcased a roster that can go 11 deep with relative ease.

Games are more than box scores, though. Here’s what to take away from the numbers as No. 15 Arkansas looks ahead to its next game, Wednesday against Northern Iowa.

Huge run helps Arkansas blow past Gardner-Webb

A massive run to end the first half lifted Arkansas past Gardner-Webb on Saturday, 86-69.

That was more like it.

No. 16 Arkansas handled a non-power conference team visiting Bud Walton Arena the way they’re used to on Saturday afternoon, beating Gardner-Webb, 86-69.

A 27-5 run over the last seven minutes of the first half turned a six-point deficit into a 16-point lead at the break. Most of the run came from the play of Connor Vanover, JD Notae and Devo Davis.

Vanover had his best career game as an Arkansas player, scoring 19 points and grabbing seven rebounds in 17 minutes. Notae followed his game-high 30 points in the season opener against Mercer with 18 against the Runnin’ Bulldogs. Davis, who played point guard the whole game after shifting among three spots against Mercer, bounced back from a five-turnover game in the opener, to finish with 10 points, six assists and three rebounds.

All three are holdovers from last year’s Arkansas team that has only four players in its 11-man rotation back from last year. Everyone else is a transfer into the program in their first year with the Razorbacks. Of that bunch, Stanley Umude led with nine points.

Gardner-Webb simply couldn’t handle Arkansas’ length. Vanover, at 7-foot-3, was an intimidating presence inside. But even Arkansas’ perimeter players’ long arms hassled the visitors. The Hogs forced 15 Runnin’ Bulldogs turnovers and scored 15 points off them.

Arkansas is off until Wednesday at Bud Walton Arena when the Razorbacks host Northern Iowa.

Predicting Arkansas basketball’s season, game-by-game: Part I

Razorbacks Wire editor E. Wayne thinks Arkansas basketball will finish this season nearly the same as it finished last.

A truncated 2020-2021 basketball season ended with Arkansas in its best spot in 25 years and it has lead to optimism that hasn’t been witnessed in Fayetteville in that length of time, too.

The Razorbacks were tabbed to finish third in the SEC by the league’s assorted media this year. A year ago, they finished second. No significant drop-off is expected.

But coach Eric Musselman’s team is also breaking in at least six players who weren’t part of the playing roster last year into the rotation. Chemistry takes time and Arkansas’ two exhibition games showed things haven’t completely coalesced yet.

No one suggests the formula is wrong and Arkansas will have an opportunity in November and December to find the balance. The Razorbacks don’t have the same difficulty of a nonconference schedule as they had last year. The front half of the SEC slate isn’t difficult, by league standards, either.

Things will come to a head in February and March, when seven of the team’s final 10 games will be played against teams figured to finish in the top-half of the SEC, which also means those teams will be vying for an NCAA Tournament and/or seeding.

So how is the season going to play out? Here’s Razorbacks Wire editor E. Wayne’s game-by-game predictions.