Arkansas linebacker Grant Morgan, safety Jalen Catalon and wide receiver Mike Woods talked with the media Friday afternoon on a teleconference about how team is handling virtual meetings this week.
Hogs’ commitments Williams, Davis named to media’s Super Team
By Scott McDonald
Batesville Daily Guard
Although the 2019-20 high school basketball has not yet officially ended, the Arkansas Sports Media released its second annual High School Basketball Super Team on Thursday.
A panel of sportswriters and sportscasters from around the state which voted on the Top 10 every week during the season chose the Super Teams in a recent vote.
BOYS FIRST TEAM
• Justus Cooper, Izard County F 6-5 Sr.
• Davonte Davis, Jacksonville G 6-4 Sr.
• Derrian Ford, Magnolia G 6-3 So.
• Chris Moore, West Memphis F 6-6 Sr.
• Jaylinn Williams, FS Northside P 6-10 Sr.
BOYS SECOND TEAM
• Payton Brown, Waldron G 6-4 Sr.
• Riley Felkins, Jonesboro Westside G 6-3 Sr.
• Caleb London, Conway F 6-4 Sr.
• Detrick Reeves, Marion G 6-3 Sr.
• Ben Turner, Trumann F 6-6 Sr.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Zane Butler, Greene County Tech; Tamarous Dodson, England; Jakari Livingston, LR Mills; Nick Smith, Sylvan Hills; Kel’el Ware, North Little Rock
GIRLS FIRST TEAM
Elauna Eaton, Nettleton G 6-1 Sr.
Sasha Goforth, Fayetteville G 6-1 Sr.
Izzy Higginbottom, Batesville G 5-8 Jr.
Kenley McCarn, Melbourne G 5-10 So.
Jersey Wolfenbarger, FS Northside G 6-4 Jr.
GIRLS SECOND TEAM
Chloe Clardy, Conway G 5-9 Fr.
Maryam Dauda, Bentonville P 6-4 Jr.
AJ McCandlis, Viola G 5-6 Fr.
Wynter Rogers, LR Christian F 6-0 Jr.
Makenna Vanzant, Farmington G 5-7 Sr.
GIRLS HONORABLE MENTIONS
Bailey Augustine, Walnut Ridge; Tracey Bershers, FS Northside; Shy Christopher, Cabot; Aubrey Isbell, Mountain View; McKenzie Jones, Kirby; Briley Pena, Nettleton; Destiny Salary, Jonesboro
Only two players were unanimous choices and both of those were girls — senior Elauna Eaton of Nettleton and junior Isabella Higginbottom of Batesville. The two super stars split their two regular season meetings this past season.
Higginbottom, a junior, was the only starter returning from the 2019 Class 4A State Champion Lady Pioneers but she was named the MVP of last year’s state tourney.
She went from averaging 16 points to almost 30 points a night in 2019-20 and scored over 40 points several times. She led the Lady Pioneers to their second straight 30-3 season and a share of the 4A-3 Conference title and both the district and regional tournament championships.
Eaton, a senior, averaged 23.1 points and 7.9 rebounds a game and led the Lady Raiders to a 27-5 record and a share of the 5A-East Conference title.
After losing to Mountain Home twice in regular season, Eaton and the Lady Raiders defeated the Lady Bombers in the semifinals and was set to play Greenwood for the Class 5A State Championship before the last two days of the State Finals in Hot Springs were indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 virus.
Those games have still not been rescheduled or canceled.
Three players on the first team this year made the first team last year. Eaton and Higginbottom were two of those with the third being Fort Smith Northside junior Jersey Wolfenbarger.
As a sophomore, she helped lead the Lady Bears co the Class 6A State Championship. This season, Wolfenbarger averaged 18.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game as the Lady Bears finished 26-4 but fell in the state semifinals.
Sasha Goforth of Fayetteville moved up to the first team this year after being an honorable mention last season.
Goforth, who will play at Oregon State next season, led the Lady Bulldogs to a 23-5 record and a runner-up finish in the 6A-West. Goforth led the Lady Purple Dawgs to a 55-53 upset victory over Fort Smith Northside in the Class 6A state tourney and was set to face Bentonville in the championship game before it was wiped out.
The fifth and last member of the first team is Melbourne sophomore Kenley McCarn who stepped up to become the Lady Bearkatz leader after last year’s 2A State MVP Reagan Rapert moved to Missouri.
McCarn averaged around 16 points a game and led the Lady Bearkatz to a 34-2 record and their second-straight Class 2A State Championship. She was also named the state tournament’s MVP.
Two freshmen were named to the second team, Chloe Clardy of Conway and A.J. McCandlis of Viola.
Clardy stepped in and became the Lady Wampus Cats’ leading scorer this season and stepped it up another notch when sophomore Jaiden Thomas, the team’s second leading scorer, was injured in early January and missed the rest of the season.
McCandlis was instrumental in leading the Lady Longhorns to a school-record 40 victories this season and a runner-up finish to Kirby in the Class 1A State Championship. McCandlis averaged 11.6 points, 4.7 assists and 3.3 steals a game.
Farmington’s Makenna Vanzant is the only senior on the second team as she led the Lady Cardinals to a 32-3 record and a victory over defending state champ Batesville in the Class 4A state semifinals. Vanzant averaged 16.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game.
Bentonville junior post Maryam Dauda couldn’t get into ASM’s first team but is ranked the top junior post in the nation and has not made a commitment. She led the Lady Tigers to a 27-1 overall record and a perfect 14-0 mark in the 6A-West.
Wynter Rogers of Little Rock Christian is the fifth member of the second team and was an honorable mention last season. Rogers helped lead the Lady Warriors to a state championship her sophomore season. This year the Lady Warriors finished 23-6.
There were no unanimous selections to the boys’ team but there are three who made the first team who were also first-teamers last season: Justus Cooper of Izard County, Chris Moore of West Memphis and Arkansas commitment Jaylin Williams of Fort Smith Northside.
Cooper led the Cougars to a 39-6 record and to the runner-up trophy in Class 1A as they were clipped 48-47 in the title game by Nevada. Cooper was a four-year starter for the Cougars which posted a 153-24 record during that time. He is also a four-time All-State team selection.
Moore led the Blue Devils to a 26-4 overall record and to the 5A-East Conference title. He had a great run during the Class 6A state tourney, averaging 17 points and 16 rebounds a game in leading West Memphis to the championship game.
Williams, the tallest player on the ASM Super Team, held the Grizzlies come out of nowhere to win the Class 6A state title last year. Williams will be an Arkansas Razorback next year.
Another Razorback commitment, Davonte Davis of Jacksonville, is the fourth senior on the first team. Davis averaged 21 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in leading the Titans to a 20-5 record, the 5A-Central Conference title and a berth to the Class 5A State Championship game. Davis will also suit up for the Razorbacks next season.
Derrian Ford of Magnolia in the only underclassman on the first or second team this year and was named to the second team as a freshman last season when he helped lead the Panthers to the Class 4A State Championship.
Ford was the leading scorer on this year’s squad that finished 26-0 and made a return trip to the state title game.
Detrick Reeves of Marion makes his second straight appearance on the second team after he led the Patriots to a 16-14 record and a second place finish in the 5A-East.
Payton Brown of Waldron made the second team this year after being an honorable mention last season. Brown led the state in scoring with 32 points a game.
Riley Felkins of Jonesboro Westside was right behind Brown with a 31.4 points per game average in leading the Warriors to the 4A-3 District Tournament championship. Felkins knocked down a career-high 46 points in an 82-69 victory over Batesville on January 24.
Caleb London of Conway helped lead the Wampus Cats to a 21-8 record and to the Class 6A State Championship.
Ben Turner of Trumann scored over 2,000 points in his career with the Wildcats and averaged 25 points per game this season.
Taylor, McMakin on dealing with shutdown of promising seasons for Hogs
Arkansas golf coaches Shauna Taylor and Brad McMakin met with the media Thursday afternoon via teleconference to talk about the shutdown’s effect on players, programs ahead of what looked to be good seasons.
Overstreet, Mistry on sudden end to season; coping with shutdown
Arkansas golfers Mason Overstreet and Kajal Mistry on his getting year back and her dealing with not being able to fly home to South Africa due to COVID-19 global pandemic.
Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast — Worst fans in sports, RD, plus Arkansas legends
Tye & Tommy discuss sports they should compete in, Richard updates recruiting news, plus the worst fans in sports!
Eight years later Arkansas football still trying to get out of ditch
It was eight years ago that Bobby Petrino flew through the handlebars on the road to Elkins and for many Arkansas football fans the program hasn’t gotten out of that ditch to this day.
The day after that, April 2, 2012, was a day many were accepting Petrino’s explanation but it was interesting that athletics director Jeff Long seemed a little reserved buying everything at face value.
That was why I said on a radio program that morning that “we’ll see if Long buys that or calls BS on it.” It was early, I was still half asleep as a guest on the show and it just sorta came out … that happens in the radio business, by the way.
Watching the news reports the previous night and reading things something just didn’t seem right. Quite frankly, I didn’t know if we’d ever find out what really happened, but when a state trooper wasn’t going to get fired over Petrino’s reconfigured version of events it started spilling out.
Long then had his own little cover-up that had nothing to do with trying to shield Petrino but the fact he snatched the opportunity to become the front man. Multiple people in positions within the athletic department at the time have said Petrino was offered a way to keep his job but arrogantly declined.
So Long, who was as equally arrogant and an ego maniac close to Petrino’s level, fired him and did his best to come out as the hero. He parlayed that into being the first chairman of the College Football Playoff a few years later.
The combination of those two people set things on a path that, in hindsight, makes perfect sense.
Both were dictators that didn’t want anybody putting anything out there they didn’t get to sanitize first. Both were completely incompetent to run a program at the high-profile level of the SEC. They were both masters of illusion.
Petrino left a trail of broken promises, back-stabbing and selective amnesia everywhere he’d been. At one point he actually boarded a plane to visit with one school about replacing a head coach that he’d worked for at one point.
If nothing else, Petrino showed for four seasons that Razorback fans would look the other way on a dictatorship as long as his offense lit up the scoreboard most fall Saturdays. They would be so enthralled by his X’s and O’s they didn’t see the train wreck coming.
It’s a track record that continues to this day. Petrino really hasn’t shown he’s capable of coaching at any Power 5 conference (or the NFL) for more than a couple of years. He doesn’t have the people skills. That’s why he only won 56 percent of his games when he finally stayed somewhere five seasons.
Nobody could see that eight years ago. The truth is the Hogs weren’t going to win a national title in 2012 (despite Beano Cook’s prediction) even if he stayed. That was a 6-6 team with no depth behind the starting 22 players.
Long simply was on a quest for power. He got it by getting rid of just about everybody with traditional connections, pretty much trying to create a new path forward that fit his plan of a never-ending supply of money that the Razorback Foundation could keep hauling in.
He didn’t worry about the future because the guess here is he didn’t plan on being around when the bill’s due date arrived.
Long didn’t want any adult supervision and basically conned his way into getting that. He gave Bret Bielema a ridiculous raise and buyout after a 7-6 regular season, then wrote his own contract with a seven-figure buyout in case he got fired.
In other words, he wrote his own insurance policy. When he announced plans to tear down the North End Zone facility he got some pushback from former Senator David Pryor, but not a lot of other people who were riding high off some mediocre results the previous two seasons.
Two power-hungry ego-maniacs without adult supervision are the reason the Hogs’ football fans find themselves in a position with an average between four and five wins a season over the last eight years.
Don’t tell me about the other programs. The main cash cow at schools in the SEC is football. ESPN isn’t paying the league mega-millions every year to broadcast basketball, baseball or track meets.
That’s reality. To this day it’s hard to find anybody that worked directly for them that was disappointed to see either one leave
It’s also why the first couple of days in April will be etched in the minds of Razorback football fans for a few more years.
Or there are enough wins to wipe out nearly a decade of the result of incompetence colliding with arrogance.
Musselman’s relationships lands 6-9 transfer forward from New Mexico
Arkansas needed more height after last year’s 20-win season and Eric Musselman helped that a little Wednesday landing New Mexico forward Vance Jackson, who announced it via Twitter.
Can’t wait to hoop at Bud Walton Arena!????Let’s Get it!!!!#WPS @RazorbackMBB pic.twitter.com/FbeC1JBMB6
— VanceJackson (@VanceJackson1) April 1, 2020
Adrio Bailey ran out of eligibility when the postseason was cancelled after one win in the SEC Tournament in March and Jackson will be an upgrade there, at least in adding some length.
Jackson, a Top 100 recruit when he came out of high school in 2016, is three inches taller than Bailey at 6-foot-9.
This is not his first time moving.
He started his career at Connecticut as a composite four-star recruit out of Bellflower, California, a suburb of Los Angeles before transferring to New Mexico after just one season.
Jackson started 21-of-32 games at UConn, averaging 8.1 points per game in 26.1 minutes per game. He was 40.9 percent from the field, 39.7 percent on three’s and 67.6 percent from the free throw line and had 3.8 rebounds per game. Jackson was named Rookie of the Week in the All-American Conference on two occasions.
After sitting out a season following his transfer played in all 32 games (18 starts) and was named to the Mountain West all-tournament team playing against Musselman’s team at Nevada.
Jackson averaged 25.5 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals per game and was the first player in Mountain West history to earn a spot on the all-tournament team without advancing past the quarterfinals.
As a junior, Jackson became a full-time starter for the Lobos and averaged 11.1 points per game with 5.3 rebounds per game, fourth on the team in points per game and second in rebounds per game.
He will be a graduate transfer with the Hogs and immediately available.
Recruiting dead period extended by NCAA until at least May 31
Landing recruits will continue to be done in a different way until at least May 31, according to an announcement by the NCAA on Wednesday, extending the on-going dead period for another couple of months.
“The Division I Council Coordination Committee and the Division II Administrative Committee extended the recruiting dead period through May 31,” the NCAA said in a release. “The committees will continue to be guided by experts to determine whether the date needs to be extended.”
This means no official or unofficial visits for football recruits, which happens quite a bit in the spring.
Evaluations also won’t take place and basketball spring signees and transfers may need to make a big decision without every having visited a school unless the signing date is moved back due to the ongoing global health crisis.
With the coronovirus pandemic forcing the NCAA to cancel everything for the spring, th entire world of college sports is wobbling with uncertainty. This is the first year since 1939 that March Madness is not being played.
Every sport across the world has been halted. The Masters has been postponed and Wimbledon cancelled. The Indianapolis 500 has been moved to August.
And football is in a holding pattern, waiting to see how things play out.
The NFL is plowing ahead with it’s annual cattle call for players and actually expanding the season and playoffs. They’ve dealt with shortened or chaotic seasons before and survived.
Now the second-most important aspect to football is basically an abbreviation. Yes, recruiting is literally a season all by itself with rankings and everything.
All we can do is see how it plays out.
