John & Tommy hit on the best Arkansas regular season wins, gas station foods, plus Richard Davenport!
NCAA takes shot at stemming ever-increasing flood of transfers
Apparently, the kangaroo court in Indianapolis that makes an occasional stab at doing something within the world of athletics has tried to slow down the transfers.
According to Adam Rittenberg at ESPN.com, the NCAA Division I Council this week has modified the rules of the transfer process and it’s pretty clear those changes will make things a little more difficult.
Tom Mars, the former Arkansas State Police director and now barrister, from Rogers apparently isn’t buying it, according to the story.
“The only thing that’s been clarified in my mind is that it will now be more difficult for student-athletes to get a waiver,” Mars said. “That’s painfully clear.”
Mars is often on the other side of the NCAA in these transfer requests and he’s been fairly successful, as in the cases of Justin Fields (Georgia to Ohio State) and Shea Patterson (Ole Miss to Michigan). He has said he gets two to three calls a day from players (or their families) about transferring.
According to the story, the changes are in just a few areas:
The adjusted guidelines address four types of waiver requests: athletes who no longer have opportunities to play at their original school; athletes who are victims of egregious behavior that impacts their health and well-being; athletes who transfer because of a recent injury or illness to an immediate family member; and athletes wanting to be closer to home because of their own injury or illness, including mental health-related issues. Waiver requests in all four subjects now will require statements from the athletic director of an athlete’s original institution explaining the athlete’s reasoning for transferring.
Maybe the biggest part that affects Arkansas’ potential transfers and immediate eligibility is the part about in the cases of a family member’s health being a reason for the transfer, that person must be within 100 miles of the school.
In Arkansas’ case, that cuts out everything down to about Morrilton to the southeast, eliminating Little Rock and the entire central part of the state.
They’ve also made an attempt to dump a lot of this in the lap of athletic directors.
Council chair Blake James from Miami said that’s part of helping “create the best student experience,” in the story.
“Having an understanding of the reasons why a young person is looking to leave and being a part of that process is something that should be happening on a more regular basis.”
There was no mention in the story of James’ involvement in the Hurricanes getting Tate Martell eligible in short order when he bailed on Ohio State after Fields’ request was approved.
“I’m sure we’ll continue to evaluate and make changes as needed that make sense to better the student experience,” James told Rittenberg.
Mars pointed out the obvious solution in the whole thing to ESPN:
“The long-term solution to this problem is blindingly obvious. The legislative council should scrap the incomprehensible waiver guidelines and replace them with a rule allowing every student-athlete to transfer one time without penalty.”
The only problem with Mars’ theory is it’s using common sense.
Which is something the NCAA has seldom collided with … especially in this transfer stuff.
Ezell signs free-agent deal with Tampa Bay; third from Hogs to sign
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Arkansas infielder Trevor Ezell signed a free agent contract with the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, becoming the eighth player to either be drafted or signed since the 2019 MLB Draft earlier this month.
Ezell is the first non-drafted Razorback to sign a pro contract this summer and will be joining a Rays organization that is also home to former Razorback pitchers Jalen Beeks and Ryne Stanek.
As of now, Ezell is only the third Arkansas player to sign a pro contract since the draft. Right-hander Isaiah Campbell signed his contract with the Seattle Mariners early last week and Jack Kenley signed his contract with the Detroit Tigers last week as well.
Hailing from Bryant, Arkansas, Ezell was only with the Razorbacks during the 2019 season after spending his first four seasons at Southeast Missouri State.
However, he made the most of his final collegiate season, emerging as one of the Hogs’ leaders and starting all 66 games at either first base or second base, while hitting .329, good for second on the squad.
Ezell, a switch hitter, was Arkansas’ best during the postseason, going .459 (17-for-37) at the plate during the NCAA Tournament, including six doubles, two home runs and eight RBIs. In just the Super Regional against Ole Miss, four of Ezell’s seven hits went for extra-bases and he had 13 total bases over the three-game series.
Needing shoulder surgery prior to the year, Ezell was still able to make the starting lineup, but was forced to play first base for the majority of the year. Having never played the position before, Ezell still became the best defensive first baseman in the conference, earning SEC All-Defense honors, after making only three errors all season.
Over his five-year college career, Ezell started all 247 games he played in and had 335 hits, which ranked fourth-most among all active players in the nation.
This year, Ezell led all Razorbacks with 19 stolen bases, the fourth time in his career he’s stolen 10 or more in a season.
His 19 swipes were also the most by a Hog player in one season since Andrew Benintendi had 24 in the 2015 season.
Prior to the Super Regionals, Ezell was named this year’s Google Cloud Division I Baseball Academic All-America Team Member of the Year for his 4.0 as a graduate student in operations management.
Ezell is the first Academic All-American from the baseball team since Zack Cox in 2010 and third baseball player all time (Allen Williams, 1992).
The team member of the year award is the first such honor for baseball in its history and Ezell is the second Arkansas student-athlete all time to win the award, following Andriena Byrd from the Women’s Track and Field Team in the 2001-02 season.
???? Wednesday Halftime Pod — featuring Andrew Hutchinson of Rivals
Tye & Hutch discuss Arkansas’ inability to close out games in recent years, plus the season win total from FanDuel.
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Wednesday
John & Tommy discuss the defense possibly being better, worst football plays in Hog history, and more!
???? Tuesday Halftime Pod — featuring Nikki Chavanelle of Rivals
Tye & Andy hit on Arkansas having success without a lot of expectations, Nikki Chavanelle, and more!
UA board approves increase in cost for baseball, track centers
FAYETTEVILLE — A new baseball development center, track high performance center and renovations to the Randal Tyson Track Center will soon get underway.
The announcement came Tuesday from the university.
A resolution proposing a bond issue to assist in funding all three projects was approved by UA’s Board of Trustees during a conference call last week.
Stephens Inc., and Crews and Associates will be co-senior managers on the bond issue. All three facilities will be funded entirely by athletic revenues, gifts and bond proceeds from the bond issue.
No university funds, state funds or student fees will be required to complete these projects.
In addition, the Board approved a final project cost of $27 million for the baseball development center. The baseball development center was initially approved last November, based on an estimated cost of $20-$25 million.
Due to changes in the project’s design, primarily the addition of a tunnel from the facility to the game day dugout, estimates for the project were increased to $27 million.
Construction on the baseball development center and the track high performance center is tentatively scheduled to begin in late 2019 or early 2020 with a targeted completion set for spring of 2021.
An initial stage of renovations to the Randal Tyson Track Center is tentatively set to begin in the spring of 2020 and will be completed in advance of Arkansas hosting the 2021 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
“We are looking forward to beginning these facility projects that will benefit the experience of our student-athletes in baseball and track and field,” athletics director Hunter Yurachek said. “While Baum-Walker Stadium, the Randal Tyson Track Center and John McDonnell Field still rank among some of the best competition venues in the nation, many of the spaces used each day by our student-athletes are no longer sufficient to support the needs of these highly successful programs.
“The new and renovated facilities are important steps and will further enhance the support for our student-athletes as they compete for SEC and NCAA championships.”
The Baseball Development Center, an approximately 45,000 square foot baseball performance facility will provide student-athletes with an improved and expanded locker room, team room, weight room, training room, meeting rooms, nutrition space, player and pitching development spaces and in-venue batting cages.
The Baseball Development Center will be constructed in the right field corner of Baum-Walker Stadium, connecting it with the current west concourse and providing new premium viewing areas for games.
The addition of a Baseball Development Center will be the latest in a series of renovations and additions to Baum-Walker Stadium which first opened in 1996.
In April 2018, Baum-Walker Stadium was ranked as the best collegiate ballpark in the nation by Baseball America.
The track and field high performance center will be constructed just south of the track at John McDonnell Field.
While John McDonnell Field was renovated into one of the top outdoor track and field competition venues in the nation in 2006, the facility does not currently provide ample space to house daily training for the more than 100 student-athletes competing in the men’s and women’s programs.
A recent study identified the most immediate needs of the facility were improved and expanded team locker rooms, expanded training room, weight room, team room and an equipment storage space.
A new approximately 22,000 square foot Track Operations Center will combine many of the program’s day-to-day operations to create an efficient space to serve both the men’s and women’s track and field programs.
The total project cost of the facility is estimated to be $15 million.
The Randal Tyson Track Center, one of the top indoor track and field venues in the world, will receive aesthetic and event enhancing upgrades.
The phase one improvements to the facility will include replacement of the track surface, new graphics along with AV upgrades and additional building enhancements.
The targeted completion date for phase one of the renovation would be prior to the 2021 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held at the venue.
The total project cost of phase one is estimated at $5 million.
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Tuesday
John & Tommy discuss the best thing you’ll see from the Razorback football team, Clay Henry, and more!
Is demand for early commitments hurting college athletics?
On a day when baseball was making news with Dave Van Horn’s first media appearance since the College World Series, a simple tweet raised a good point that points to a problem.
Arkansas football’s S.J. Tuohy, who does an admirable job keeping up with Chad Morris pretty much all time, had a couple of thoughts on The Twitter that makes one think:
I see some of y’all on https://t.co/SNOXTMsQTy mad at prospects for decommiting/committing & loyalty this & that. It ain’t their fault. If anything, be mad at schools pressuring/threatening guys to make choices before they’re ready. No way 17-year-old me gets it right on 1st try.
— Sean Tuohy Jr. (@SJTuohy) June 23, 2019
That hits the nail on the head and may be the biggest reason for the deluge of transfers in all sports these days.
In football, a lot of coaches push for commitments at least a year out, sometimes two or three years away. That goes beyond offers and interest, but there are coaches that outright bribe the kids for a verbal commitment.
Fans pick up on it and many of the Lunatic Fringe that every major college football team has goes over the top with it, usually to the point of saying things to these recruits I can guarantee you they wouldn’t want said to their own children.
Assuming, of course, some of these mouth-breathers and booger-eaters are actually allowed to produce offspring. You get the idea a lot of them live in their parents’ garage, eating Cheetos and pounding energy drinks all day.
It is a valid point that apparently has risen to the level S.J. feels is getting out of hand in some cases.
His next tweet got to what is likely the root cause of all these transfers, which has become a cottage industry of its own.
Guys that aren’t pressured and wait and choose and commit when THEY want usually stay committed. Build relationships not ultimatums! ????????♂️ #RantOver
— Sean Tuohy Jr. (@SJTuohy) June 23, 2019
Yes, there are coaches that deliver those ultimatums to kids as young as the 9th grade.
“If you’re not willing to commit now, we’re going to move on to another player,” is a line we’ve heard from several folks that has been used.
Granted, I don’t cover the daily ins and outs of the recruiting game. There are guys that do a great job of that elsewhere, but I’ve heard things for several years and, in a couple of instances, seen it directly.
In a way, coaches have created the very thing so many complain about.
There are media that cover the recruiting in-depth, literally on an hourly basis. They start the team rankings two years in advance, which leads to fans getting nervous about where their team ranks, which leads to social media pressure on kids who don’t even have a driver’s license yet being bombarded with pressures by these same fans.
No, that’s not a negative o those ranking sites. It’s news and it’s information.
This didn’t happen years ago. About 40 years ago, the recruiting started about summer, intensified after the regular season and continued through to the next summer. Yes, as late as the 1980’s, SEC teams were still picking up signees in July to start practice in August as a true freshman.
Not any more.
Now players commit to a school, feel pressured to sign, show up and find out, well, that’s not really what they expected and transfer out.
In the past few months, one player started at USC, transferred to Texas, now is back at USC. That’s an extreme case, but it is a real example and points to a problem that is very prevalent in college football and basketball.
Part of it is on the fans. A few go over-the-top and paint an entire school in a negative light by acting like fools on social media.
Another part is on the coaches. They deliver the take-it-or-leave-it line on some kids who then make an uninformed decision. Coaches don’t make the rules, but it does sorta throw out the mantra many claim about how much they care about their players away from what they can do on the field.
But the actual responsible party that has made all this possible is the NCAA, which has turned into a kangaroo court that more or less makes it up as they go along.
That is the body that has allowed this transfer process to get out of control. If you can figure out their reasoning on granting waivers, you’re better than me because it makes zero sense.
The NCAA has allowed all of the responsibility to be placed on the players, some of whom felt pressured by coaches and over-zealous fans to choose the place they landed.
There is no responsibility placed on the schools, some of which run players off to free up more available scholarships.
And a lot of that is caused because the entire process causes coaches to force high school kids to make a decision that will affect the rest of their lives. There are few consequences for schools that have a revolving door.
Hogs will host Kansas State as part of Big 12-SEC Challenge in women’s hoops
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas hosts Kansas State in the Big 12-SEC Challenge on Dec. 4, the league office announced Monday.
The Razorbacks will play in the Challenge for the sixth time, and currently sport a 2-3 all-time record.
The Hogs and the Wildcats will square off for just the sixth time, and the ‘Cats currently own a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series. However, Arkansas has never lost to K-State at home, going a perfect 2-0, including a 60-58 win in the teams’ most recent meeting (12/02/09).
Kansas State is coming off of a solid season, as they went 21-12 and 11-7 in the Big 12. The ‘Cats parlayed that success into a NCAA Tournament berth, returning to the Big Dance after advancing to the third round of the 2018 WNIT the season before.
The Wildcats will return their leading scorer from a season ago, as senior Peyton Williams, who averaged 15.8 points per game, is back for her senior season.
The first-team All-Big 12 selection powered Kansas State last season, and will present a challenge for the Hogs down on the block.
The first 10-game Big 12-SEC Challenge slate came back in 2016, and the Big 12 held a slight advantage, taking six of the games. The conferences split the games, 5-5, in both 2017 and in 2018.
The complete Challenge schedule is below:
2019 Big 12-SEC Women’s Basketball Challenge Schedule
Wednesday, December 4
Georgia at Baylor
Thursday, December 5
Iowa State at Alabama
Ole Miss at Texas Tech
Saturday, December 7
LSU at Oklahoma
Auburn at TCU
Kansas State at Arkansas
Oklahoma State at Texas A&M
Sunday, December 8
Texas at Tennessee
West Virginia at Mississippi State
Florida at Kansas
The remainder of the Razorbacks’ schedule will be released as soon as it becomes final.
???? Monday Halftime Pod — featuring Brad Crawford of 247 Sports
Tye hits on why fans should be celebrating Arkansas’ non conference schedule, Brad Crawford of 247 Sports, and more!
