It’s okay that Musselman didn’t mention some of us ‘quiet ones’ in back

Andy Hodges
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It’s okay that Musselman didn’t mention some of us ‘quiet ones’ in back

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman started the teleconference Thursday morning with apologies to some of us in the media for not being included in a video released earlier in the day.

Musselman started by apologizing for failing to mention some of us “quiet ones” in the back at press conferences. Really, the only way it would have been appropriate would be to mention our names followed by crickets.

Well, Leo Cruz does ask an occasional question but he also fired off a mariachi song one time in a press conference on his iPad. Oh, and he always thanks you at the end.

The rest of us, well, we are just in the back hanging out and making sure the camera doesn’t fall off the stand. We really don’t fire out questions. Mainly it’s because somebody else usually asks what we would.

Besides, sooner or later, Mike Cawood or one of his interns is going to get hurt trying to run the question microphones from one end of the media room to the other. Between the chairs and the cables, well, it could get interesting.

Side Note: Speaking of that, Mike Neighbors sat in one of the chairs in the media room a few weeks ago and because it was kinda sitting loosely on top of another one, he dropped several inches … his life flashed before his eyes as he went down. Russell Schaap put crime scene tape around the chair before his next presser … and Neighbors appropriately acknowledged it.

Our questions for Musselman, though, would probably be a little different:

• Maybe the most important unanswered question is what breed is your dog, Swish? You didn’t know the first time it came up and, sadly, Bob Holt never really followed up with that bit of information.

• Speaking of Bob, with a few minutes of extra time these days, could you please do a list of all the little tiny detail stuff you could hand out? Please include everyone you’ve ever coached or seen, worked for or read their book, met or even seen … with dates, please. Times are optional, but appreciated. It might save a ton of time later when we start getting together regularly again.

• Do you really care what our opinion is after a game framed as a question? Particularly with excruciating details some of us have no idea what the question is even about.

• Has anyone ever asked a bad question? We hear you say, “good question” a lot, but you never go the other direction. When you see us in the back looking at each other with strange looks you’ll know we have no idea what the question was about, either.

• How hard is it, at times, making your answers longer than the questions asked?

That’s just a few of the ones that immediately come to mind.

Seriously, though, for even us anonymous guys Musselman has been a refreshing change of pace in press conferences.

For me, it’s the way he handles losses. At times it appears he hates losing more than he likes winning and that’s always been something I’ve noticed over decades of doing this that separates the really good coaches from the so-so ones.

Whether he knows me or not doesn’t really matter. The fans should be noticing the change in “culture” around Razorback basketball.

They are the ones that should matter, especially in this time when many feel like a huge chunk of their lives has been yanked away.

 

Musselman updates status of Razorbacks after activities put on hold

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas coach Eric Musselman talked with the media via teleconference Thursday about the status of players, both those coming back, redshirts and new signees.

???? HALFTIME POD presented by Jeff’s Club House ???? 3/19/2020

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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???? HALFTIME POD presented by Jeff’s Club House ???? 3/19/2020

Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast — Missing Hogs, March Madness memories, plus RD

Tye Richardson
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0
Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast — Missing Hogs, March Madness memories, plus RD

Tye & Tommy on Hogs you’ll miss most, first/second round March Madness memories, plus Richard Davenport!

???? HALFTIME POD presented by Jeff’s Club House ???? 3/18/2020

Tye Richardson
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???? HALFTIME POD presented by Jeff’s Club House ???? 3/18/2020

Hogs were ‘just in shock’ when season cancelled, Van Horn said

Andy Hodges
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Hogs were ‘just in shock’ when season cancelled, Van Horn said

Arkansas’ baseball team had about the same reaction when the word came down from the SEC and NCAA about the jarring premature end of the season due to the national emergency over the COVID-19 virus.

“They were just in shock,” Dave Van Horn said Wednesday morning on a teleconference.

In what ended up being the last game of the 2020 season last week, there was about as much side discussion about the crisis as it was the game going on so the situation was not completely unexpected.

“You start getting wind of it after the win over Grand Canyon and next day we’re supposed to fly out to Starkville,” Van Horn said about the opening SEC series against Mississippi State. “Then we’re put on hold and we pretty much knew what was going to happen there.

“We kinda knew it was going to go away.”

But there was still a glimmer of hope until Tuesday when the NCAA and the SEC slammed the door shut on all sports for awhile.

Van Horn normally stands up to address the team and assistant coaches are scattered around. Not this time. He brought them to the front to stand with him.

“I wanted them to see what I was going to see in the players’ faces,” Van Horn said. “It was tough. It was really hard to look at the players and their reactions.”

All sports function on a routine schedule that becomes a part of both coaches and players. Baseball plays so many games at such a fast pace that routine is a necessity. The Razorbacks pretty much figured it was just a matter of time.

“Behind closed doors we were thinking we’re done,” Van Horn said. “When are they just going to tell us this is over? You have to train for a certain date. Hitters have to swing the bat nearly every day.”

All that’s over and it’s not coming back for this season.

Which means star players Heston Kjerstad, Casey Martin and Casey Opitz won’t be back for the Hogs whenever things resume.

““I haven’t discussed anything with them as far as that goes,” Van Horn said. “I just know how highly those guys are going to be sought after in the draft and the kind of money that’s going to go out there to them.”

A couple of others may leave, too, but Van Horn wasn’t naming any names with those guys.

“There are a couple that are iffy,” he said.

With just 16 games played (and the Hogs’ record will remain 11-5 for all time), this team was starting to get things straightened out and the frustration slipped through at times in Van Horn’s voice.

Especially Kjerstad and Martin.

“He was starting to heat up,” Van Horn said of Kjerstad. “He would have hit mid-20 or 30 home runs this year.”

And Martin had finally matured to the point he was handling some early-season adversity and turning things around.

“He was really starting to come out of it,” Van Horn said. “His demeanor when he wasn’t having a good day was getting so much better. I think he was getting ready to take off.”

Others were developting, too.

“Some guys having great years,” Van Horn said. “I really wanted I wanted Christian Franklin to keep developing.”

There will be changes to the roster. There is some accepted expectation that eligibility will be restored to some players, but Van Horn admitted that’s going to be a tricky area.

The not knowing may be the biggest problem of all for Van Horn.

“There’s so many unknowns right now,” Van Horn said.

Van Horn on how he addressed team; cancellation ends big year for some

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Razorback coach Dave Van Horn talked with the media on a teleconference for the first time since the remainder of the college baseball season was cancelled last week.

Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast — Mase/IJ decisions’ impact, Brady/Belichick and more!

Tye Richardson
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0
Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast — Mase/IJ decisions’ impact, Brady/Belichick and more!

Tye & Tommy on Michael Jordan announcing “I’m back” 25 years ago, Brady vs. Belichick, plus What’s Your Beef Wed!

Harter felt he had good team before NCAA Championships cancelled last week

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Harter felt he had good team before NCAA Championships cancelled last week

Arkansas women’s track coach Lance Harter talked on a teleconference with the media Wednesday about the disappointment for his athletes after the NCAA Championships were cancelled last week.

Razorbacks’ Tolefree on radar to be drafted; Doumbia enters transfer portal

Andy Hodges
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Razorbacks’ Tolefree on radar to be drafted; Doumbia enters transfer portal

With Arkansas’ post-season plans de-railed in women’s basketball due to the suspension caused by the COVID-19 national emergency, Mike Neighbors is still going to use the No. 24 ranking to his advantage.

“We’ll find every way to spin it possible,” he said Tuesday evening as he’s still staying busy.

The Associated Press final poll released earlier in the day put the Razorbacks just inside the Top 25 (South Carolina was No. 1, which was not a surprise). That is a step forward for Neighbors after his third season.

“That’s one way to stay in the poll,” he said. “We still would have rather gone into the tournament and tried to improve on that, but I think it’s only happened one other time.”

It is something he can use talking to recruits, which is still on-going despite the fact no coaches can go see players or have them on campus.

“It’s a dead period, not a shutdown,” Neighbors said. “We can send them social media messages, texts. We never blow them up on that stuff anyway, but we’ve got some good players that want to play for us.”

What will nag at Neighbors with the abrupt ending to the season, however, is seniors Alexis Tolefree and Kiara Williams not getting to play in the NCAA Tournament, something that both of them wanted badly.

Both are still considering their options. For Williams, graduate school is a possibility. Tolefree may keep playing basketball.

“The people I’m talking to think Alexis has a good shot at getting picked in the draft,” Neighbors said. “Kiera’s not exactly sure what she wants to do.”

Neighbors is on the committee for the Wade Trophy and some committees, which are meeting via the telephone. Forget the annual convention because that’s been cancelled.

“You learn all kinds of stuff at that,” he said. “We’re still busy with meetings and evaluations.”

He would rather be busy playing games, but that’s not in his control.

Neighbors also confirmed sophomore Rokia Doumbia has entered the NCAA’s transfer portal, which has been talked about now for a few days.

“That’s the first kid we’ve had go into it,” he said about a player that had increased playing time of the course of the season. “But we’ve got some players in it that we’re talking to as well.”

???? HALFTIME POD presented by Jeff’s Club House ???? 3/17/2020

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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???? HALFTIME POD presented by Jeff’s Club House ???? 3/17/2020

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