I don’t think there is a question now that the state of the program is on solid ground now. Hopefully, the naysayers will finally leave or jump on board. Anderson is our guy and the players are buying into what he’s teaching.
Of equal importance, IMO, is all I heard from commentators and analysts after the game was respect for the Razorbacks. Everybody thought NC would kill us in this game, yet we were right there till the end with a team a lot of people have winning the whole thing. Our boys performed well in the national spotlight and it didn’t go unnoticed.
Next year we have a very good/solid core of returning seniors(hopefully). Hopefully, Macon’s “no comment” to reporters wasn’t a hint that he might leave. But if he stays, Barford and Macon will be the center pieces to a top notch group of guards. If Beard can be more consistent in his play, then he could easily be right there with them. C. J. Jones, we know he can shoot, but hopefully he develops the ability to drive to the basket like Macon and Hannahs do to become a bigger threat. Adrio Bailey has got all the potential in the world to be a great player. If he can develop a good jump shot and work on his FT’s then he will be a beast. Our big men of Trey Thompson, Arlando Cook, and Dustin Thomas, need to continue to progress and we might be better next year. Brachen Hazen and R.J. Glasper, just need to keep working and find their nitch on this team.
And of course we have a top 20 class coming in of Daniel Gafford, Khalil Garland, and Darious Hall. If I have any advice, get with Mike Anderson and get on a training schedule NOW for next season because all 3 of this guys will probably get playing time and we need to be as well conditioned and prepared as ever.
It was a great season and everything seems to be moving further up for this team! And I will continue to support this team and I hope everybody else does as well.
Someone on another site that seems to be 50/50(claiming to know players or their family members) on certain predictions said that Macon might go the European league route. I hope he’s wrong.
I’d be surprised to see him leave. When he was recruited he made plain how he’d always wanted to be a Razorback. But I guess he’s got to do what he thinks is best for him. I sure hope he comes back. Great player! Reading Macon’s postgame comments, my take is that the reporter wanted him to talk about himself right after his team had lost such a heartbreaker, and it just wasn’t a subject he thought appropriate to address given what had just happened.
its hard to say what Macon or Barford might do. i would of sworn Qualls would of came back, but he left. i pray they return as we could have special team next year if freshman are as good as advertised. all we lacked this year was a good swing guy that could score. i think Garland can fill that role next yr. the program as whole is on as good footing as its been since 90s. recruiting should continue being strong with our good play. maybe the state can continue to produce 3-4 major D1 players and we get them like we have the next 2yrs. our reputation as a good basketball team has been rebuilt, barring anything drastic our surge should continue.
Macon and Bardford were sure a joy to watch this year in the Razorback uniform.
I do hope hope they both come back and play next year!
Bardford made a comment about playing next year!
The problem is, young players too often think they can play in the NBA. Kind of like this middle school player that wasn’t even starting asking Nolan, “What do I need to do to play in the NBA?”
Like you, I feel good about the future after the the fight I saw from this team down the stretch this season.
Must haves for next season:
1: Macon and Barford must both return for senior season.
2: Trey Thompson must work on his physique to become the beast he could be.
3: Beard needs to loose some weight to get quicker on both offense and defense.
4: Adrio Bailey needs to shoot a minimum of 500 mid-range jumpers every day to become the difference maker an athelete like him could be.
5: Thomas and Clark need to get stronger physically at the 4 spot.
6: Hazen, Jones and Glaspar need to get there bodies in D-1 shape and find a niche they can help the team next season.
7: We should be Looking to find a legit big man, maybe a graduate transfer or Juco that is 6"10" at least to play meaningful minutes because Garland as a Freshman may not have the body to step in and fill a major role right away. Perhaps, we could find a D-2 or NAIA big that could transfer up and play without sitting out a season i.e.Scottie Pippen played at UCA in the mid 1980’s for example could have played with any D-1 team, just go find one and bring him in next year.
One question and two observations. Who is Clark? Jones is thought by many already to be the best athlete on the team, but he’s not in D-1 shape? Hmmm. Finally, no one expects Garland at 6’6" to be a big man. He’ll play shooting guard. I think you mean Cook, not Clark and Gafford, not Garland.
Sorry, i got a couple of names wrong on my last post.
I misnamed Cook as Clark at the power forward or 4 spot and referred to incoming freshman from Eldorado as Garland instead of Gafford.
My apologies to Sac70, not on top of my game I guess.
I certainly hope that none of our underclassmen think that they are ready to move on to Pro Basketball and outside of just not being able or wanting to get things done as a student athlete they should look to others that have recently gone that route and just how well or not so well that has worked out for many of those players.
Bobby Portis, was a good 2nd year player but would have only gotten better by staying in college and improving his game and getting stronger. I know he received SEC player of the year award, but seriously, do any of you believe was better than the top players at UK that spread their stats and playing minutes that year?
Bobby should have been playing along side Kingsley this year with the rest of our roster helping to lead our Hogs to the final four.
Instead, he left too early and has played a very limited role for the Chicago Bulls and at times been sent down to the D-League in order to get more experience and playing time. Sure, he’s getting paid, but for how much longer? If he had stayed he could’ve driven his stock up to possibly a 1-5 pick in the NBA draft.
These guys should relish their time in college, value their education and not place so much value on a paycheck before they turn 20 years old.
I see your point, and we can all fantasize about what might have happened if we had had a front line of Kingsley and Portis this year. With our guards that would have been hard to beat. Still, Portis got a lot of money to leave. He probably weighed the possibility of injury in the balance, too. He might have had just as good or even better chance to develop had he stayed. He might have won glory on the national stage and been a top ten pick in this year’s draft, but two years of getting paid lots of money, even if part of the time was in the D-league, is just too tempting for most, especially if a kid’s family is not well-off.
Someone on this site said about a month ago that was the talk, about two weeks ago he changed his mind and decided to stay. It’s in the basketball board.
If you mean testing the NBA waters, then I wouldn’t worry about it. As good as our guards are, I can’t find one mock draft with either of them in it, even in the second round. Unless their families are really desperate for money right now, they should finish college without at doubt.
If he was to play in a European league that pays their players in full and some don’t, he would probably earn on the low side; about $60,000 per year. However, that is about what he would earn in Arkansas with a college degree. And, making the roster on an European league is not a guarantee. I believe because of that and the fact that not getting a degree would result in loss of earnings long time, that he will return. Of course he could later return to college but he wouldn’t be on scholarship. Therefore, what he might earn for a year on the European league would be offset by either loss of earning from not obtaining a degree or else the cost of an extra year+ in college.
Also, should he have outstanding senior year where he is regularly playing up to his potential such as UNC and some other games, his stock would greatly rise; possibly to the point of being drafted by the NBA.