Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger had a Zoom press conference with the media Wednesday afternoon talking about the series with Arkansas to be played in Tulsa and knowing Hogs’ coach Eric Musselman.
Jones has legitimate shot at making pro ball according to McPherson
KNWA’s Kevin McPherson told Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft (The Morning Rush) on ESPN Arkansas Wednesday he thinks Mason Jones can get to NBA on path like Darryl Macon did, plus recruiting thoughts, Isaiah Joe’s possible return.
Hogs, OU set series to be played at Tulsa’s BOK Center starting this year
FAYETTEVILLE — Border rivals Arkansas and Oklahoma announced a multi-year, men’s basketball series to be played in consecutive years at the BOK Center in Tulsa with the first game in the series set for December 12.
Located midway between the Arkansas (116 miles) and Oklahoma (125 miles) campuses, the BOK Center offers a central location that caters to alumni and fan bases from both universities.
Tickets for the matchup will be divided at midcourt to create a unique 50-50 atmosphere for fans from each school.
“I have tremendous respect for (Oklahoma) head coach Lon Kruger and the Sooner basketball program,” said Arkansas coach Eric Musselman. “We are also appreciative of the city of Tulsa and the BOK Center. This is a great game for both programs and Tulsa is the perfect neutral-site location.
“Not only will it be exciting for the region, this is the type of game that will draw national exposure. We feel like this will be a great experience for both our student-athletes and fans, while the environment versus a premier program from one of the top power conferences will help us in SEC play and beyond.”
The second game of the series is set for Dec. 11, 2021, also in the BOK Center, with the possibility of two additional games in December of 2022 and 2023.
Ticket information and official branding for the series will be announced at a later date.
“Our series with the University of Oklahoma will bring together two storied basketball programs and two passionate fan bases from bordering states to create a compelling regional rivalry,” said Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek. “This series, with games being contested at a neutral location less than two hours from our respective campuses, will positively enhance the exposure of college basketball in our region.”
The Arkansas and Oklahoma series includes 28 games dating back to the 1938-39 season. Arkansas owns a 16-12 advantage in the series, including a 5-0 record when the teams play on a neutral court. The teams have never met in Tulsa.
The last time the two squads played was Nov. 23, 2017 when the Razorbacks defeated the Sooners 92-83 in Portland, Ore., at the Phil Knight Invitational.
Prior to that, the teams played six consecutive years from 2007-08 to 2012-13, three contests in Fayetteville and three in Norman.
Preceding that series, the programs met in four consecutive seasons spanning 1998-99 to 2001-02 in home-and-home series.
While the teams’ history with one another is somewhat limited, the programs’ coaching staffs are very familiar with each other.
First, Musselman was an assistant under Kruger for two seasons with the Atlanta Hawks (2000-02).
Second, current Razorback associate coach Chris Crutchfield served on Kruger’s staff with the Sooners for eight years (2011-19) — the last three as associate head coach — prior to coming to the Razorbacks.
Arkansas basketball in Tulsa
• Arkansas has never played in Tulsa’s BOK Center.
• The last time Arkansas played in Tulsa was Nov. 30, 2003, an 81-74 victory over the Golden Hurricane at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
• Arkansas is 9-15 all-time versus the Golden Hurricane in Tulsa.
• Arkansas is 1-2 all-time versus Oral Roberts in Tulsa.
• Arkansas faced Oklahoma State once in Tulsa (Mabee Center) on Dec. 9, 2000, a game the Cowboys won 74-73.
Information from Razorback Sports Communications is included in this story.
Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast — Article on Mase, Kevin McPherson joins and more!
Tye & Tommy on the Hoops Hype Mason Jones article, Kevin McPherson joins, plus the Michael Jordan of Arkansas!
It’s time to crown a champion in the greatest Razorback football game of all time bracket
This is it. After weeks of voting, debate, and memories, these are the two games you have voted on. Now it’s time to make it official, what is the Greatest Razorback Football Game of All Time?? These two games are two of the most memorable and legendary games in Razorback history. Make sure you submit your vote below!!
Here are some highlights from both of these games! Shoutout to @WarMachine2013 for putting these awesome highlight reels together!
#8 Arkansas @ #1 Texas – 1964
#2 Arkansas @ #6 Nebraska – 1965 Cotton Bowl
Click here to view the full bracket!
Voting is open from now until Friday at 8:00am! We will announce the winning game LIVE on The Morning Rush on Friday! GET YOUR VOTES IN!
Halftime with Phil Elson expands to NWA sports radio starting Wednesday
There’s change coming to sports radio in Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas.
Halftime, hosted by Razorback baseball and women’s basketball voice Phil Elson joins the ESPN 99.5 station lineup starting Wednesday, May 6.
The show airs from Noon-2 p.m. each weekday afternoon.
Halftime can also be heard on 95.3 in Northwest Arkansas and 1290-AM and online at HitThatLine.com.
Elson co-hosts the show with Matt Jenkins and Matt Travis, both Arkansas natives.
“Bringing Halftime to Northwest Arkansas is the realization of the desire we had when we started the show nearly two years ago,” Elson said. “I know I, Matty T and Matt ‘Smackdown’ Jenkins will continue to bring an informative and entertaining program for sports fans across the state.”
Adding Halftime is something ESPN 99.5 program director Zach Arns has been wanting to do for some time.
“Having Phil as part of our ESPN 99.5 family is something I’ve wanted since the day I took over as program director,” Arns said Tuesday. “We are beyond excited to add Halftime to our locally-produced lineup in Northwest Arkansas
“Phil Elson, Matt Jenkins and Matt Travis have provided Razorback fans with the most informative mid-day show in the state and we can’t wait to bring them to NWA.”
Halftime joins the weekday lineup of Razorback-focused programs including The Morning Rush with Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft from 6-9 a.m. and Ruscin & Zach with Derek Ruscin and Zach Arns from 3-7 p.m.
ESPN Arkansas programs can also be heard on 95.3-FM in Fort Smith-River Valley, 96.3-FM in Hot Springs-West Arkansas and 104.3-FM in Harrison-Mountain Home.
Sherrill remembers playing Hogs at ‘loud’ War Memorial Stadium
Jackie Sherrill coached just about everywhere across five decades and he really liked playing in Arkansas … except when playing in Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium back in the day.
“For a small stadium it was the loudest stadium of any place we played,” Sherrill said to Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft (The Morning Rush) Tuesday morning on ESPN Arkansas. “For the people that never experienced games in Little Rock it was a hard place to play for the opponent.”
Sherrill’s long career started at Alabama where he played and was a graduate assistant for a year under Paul “Bear” Bryant, then came to Arkansas for a year as a GA for Frank Broyles, but he got to know Johnny Majors, who was on the staff then.
He followed Majors to first Iowa State (where he was on the staff with former Arkansas player and another pretty good coach in Jimmy Johnson). Pittsburgh was next as defensive coordinator before going to Washington State for a year and when Majors moved to Tennessee, Sherrill got his first head coaching position.
In 1981 he came to Texas A&M as the first college coach to make over $100,000 a year and he found out pretty quick the old Southwest Conference was as good as anything in football.
“The SEC today is probably as close,” Sherrill said. “The rivalry in the old Southwest Conference was because you only had one school out of state in Arkansas and the rest were in Texas.”
After Arkansas bolted to the SEC it started a chain reaction of teams moving around in conferences and the old SWC ended up in the Big 12 and Texas greed blew that up mainly because Tom Osborne at Nebraska got tired of it when the Longhorns got their own television network.
Texas athletics director DeLoss Dodds was the one trying to impose Texas will on an entire league.
“The biggest thing is DeLoss got really greedy,” Sherrill said. “When they would go to conference meeting he wanted most of the conference TV money. That was the start.”
They came close to going to the Pac 10 along with Oklahoma and some others but the Longhorns weren’t giving up the Longhorn Network that pays them reportedly around $15 million a year.
“The Pac 10 was going to take all the teams to the Mississippi River,” Sherrill said.
Texas could have given up a little bit of their television deal and the landscape of college football would be completely different.
“The economics drives college football,” Sherrill said. “Everything. The money comes from the television plackage (the SEC Network). No one knows today what that package really is because they don’t want the other conferences to know how much they pay the SEC.
“It comes back to one thing — fan base. That’s where they sell the advertising because that’s where they make their money. You look at the fan basein the SEC all are at over a million in each school in fan base and the only other conference that can challenge that is Big 10.”
Coaching under Bryant, Broyles, Majors
Sherrill worked for Bryant, Broyles and Majors over a three-year period from 1966-68.
“Broyles was probably a CEO,” Sherrill said. “He was very intelligent and approached it differently. Coach Majors was a different PR guy and approached it very differently.
“They all approached it differently, but all three were very successful.”
Praise for Razorback fans
“Arkansas fans one of the ones that is true and loyal,” Sherrill said. “If you’re a head coach you want the fan base in the stands.”
Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast — Hunter Yurachek’s comments, Jackie Sherrill and more!
Tye & Tommy on what Hunter Yurachek actually said yesterday, former HC Jackie Sherrill joins and more!
Jorn tells Halftime he’s missing college baseball during ongoing health shutdown
With no games being played, former Razorback pitching coach Dave Jorn told Phil Elson, Matt Jenkins and Matt Travis (Halftime) on ESPN Arkansas he’s disappointed to miss what was looking like a good season for the Hogs.
