Razorbacks start gymnastics season ranked in Top 20

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas is ranked No. 19 in the 2018 National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W) preseason coaches poll announced Monday.

The Razorbacks tallied 872 points in the poll. In 2018, Arkansas will face off against nine top-25 teams, including road matchups against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Florida, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Alabama and No. 17 Missouri.

The Razorbacks were tabbed as having the second hardest schedule in the nation by Road To Nationals.

All eight Southeastern Conference teams are ranked in the top 19 in the poll, including three in the top five.

Arkansas will face all seven other SEC teams this season, including No. 3 LSU in the season opener Jan. 5, 2018 in Baton Rouge.

Senior Amanda Wellick returns after suffering a season-ending injury in January of last season and missed what would’ve been her senior season.

She has since returned to the gym and is expected to be in Arkansas’ lineup this season.

Arkansas also welcomes back NCAA Individual participants Braie Speed and Jessica Yamzon.

Yamzon earned a spot at the NCAA Championships last season as a freshman, scoring a 38.925 in the all-around.

Speed posted a 9.825 on the vault at NCAA’s, tying her third-best score from last season.

The team will be in action for a free showcase at the first Holidays With The Hogs intrasquad meet this Sunday inside Barnhill Arena.

The meet will begin at 5 p.m. with doors opening an hour before at 4. More details can be found here.

NACGC/W Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1: Oklahoma (1769 points) (33 first place votes)
2: Florida (1728 points) (10 first place votes)
3: LSU (1692 points) (7 first place votes)
4: Alabama (1584 points)
5: Utah (1544 points)
6: UCLA (1477 points)
7: Michigan (1443 points)
8: Denver (1313 points)
9: Nebraska (1214 points)
10: Kentucky (1213 points)
11: California (1201 points)
12: Oregon State (1141 points)
13: Boise State (1125 points)
14: Auburn (1119 points)
15: Washington (1114 points)
16: Georgia (1011 points)
17: Missouri (975 points)
18: Stanford (903 points)
19: Arkansas (872 points)
20: Iowa (819 points)
21: George Washington (701 points)
22: Ohio State (690 points)
23: Illinois-Champaign (609 points)
24: Southern Utah (605 points)
25: Penn State (599 points)

Despite injury, Ragnow named to All-American team

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas senior center Frank Ragnow added a pair of All-America honors to his collection Monday, earning second-team status from the Football Writers Association of America and third-team acclaim from The Associated Press.

Ragnow, who also accepted his invitation to the 2018 Reese’s Senior Bowl on Monday morning, is the first offensive lineman in school history to earn All-America honors in back-to-back seasons since 2007 Rimington Trophy recipient Jonathan Luigs (2006-07).

Last week, Ragnow was named a first-team All-American at center by Pro Football Focus for the second consecutive season, leading all Football Bowl Subdivision offensive linemen with a 93.7 overall grade.

He paced all centers with a 92.4 grade in the run game to go with an 88.3 mark in pass protection in eight games played. He allowed only one pressure on his 255 pass blocking snaps.

A finalist for the Senior CLASS Award and semifinalist for both the Wuerffel Trophy and Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year award, Ragnow started 33 consecutive games and didn’t allow a sack over 2,603 career snaps at center and right guard before sustaining a season-ending ankle injury during the Auburn game on Oct. 21.

He had only missed 43 offensive snaps since becoming a permanent starter as a sophomore in 2015.

Ashdown’s Bishop flips from Bulldogs to Hogs

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

Arkansas coach Chad Morris has flipped another commitment, this time in Arkansas.

Ashdown cornerback Ladarrius Bishop (6-1, 190, 4.35 in the 40) was previously committed to Mississippi State and decommitted over the weekend.

He also had offers from Florida, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Illinois, Iowa State and others. He plans to officially visit Fayetteville this weekend, according to multiple reports.

Gafford gets top freshman award in SEC for week

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

FAYETTEVILLE — Following a dominant performance in a win over No. 14 Minnesota Saturday, freshman forward Daniel Gafford has been named the SEC Freshman of the Week the league office announced Monday morning.

The 6-11 big man helped Arkansas go 2-0 last week with home wins over the Colorado State Rams and the nationally ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers. Gafford combined to go 13-of-17 from the floor, including a perfect 8-of-8 performance against Minnesota.

He became the seventh Razorback player in the last 30 years to go 8-of-8 or better from the floor and is the first Razorback to earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors since Anton Beard on Feb. 23, 2015.

Against the Gophers, Gafford finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and a career-high six blocks and added 14 points and six rebounds in a 26-point victory over Colorado State.

The El Dorado, Arkansas, native is responsible for 21 of Arkansas’ 37 dunks and has recorded more dunks than six SEC teams. He ranks in the top five in the SEC among freshmen in scoring, rebounds and blocks.

Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Monday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Monday

Morning Rush Hour 2

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

Morning Rush Hour 1

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

Hogs’ balance on offense paces 67-41 win over Tulsa

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

FAYETTEVILLE — Four players in double figures and a great rebounding effort led Arkansas to a 67-41 win over Tulsa in Bud Walton Arena on Sunday.

Junior Malica Monk scored a game-high 14 points and graduate student Devin Cosper had her fifth double-double of the year with 11 points and 11 boards. Both players have scored in double figures in all 10 games for Arkansas (7-3) this season.

Sophomore Kiara Williams dropped in a career-best 13 points and had seven rebounds in 17 minutes. Sophomore Jailyn Mason finished with 11 points and has scored in double figures in five games, including four consecutive games, this year.

Arkansas jumped on Tulsa from the opening tip and finished the first quarter on an 8-0 run holding the Golden Hurricane scoreless for more than two minutes. That gave the Razorbacks a 21-12 lead after the first period and Arkansas never looked back. The Razorbacks had 16-6 rebounding advantage that they stretched to 61-39 by the end of the game.

The +26-rebounding advantage is the largest margin since the Razorbacks out-rebounded Grambling State by +37 in 2014.

Junior Keiryn Swenson tied her career-best with nine rebounds as did junior Bailey Zimmerman with seven boards. Freshman Taylah Thomas also had seven rebounds in the win.

Notes
• Arkansas improved to 21-3 all-time against Tulsa.
• Kiara Williams scored a career-best 13 points and was in double figures for the fourth time this season and the fourth time of her career.
• Malica Monk reached double figures early in the third quarter. It is her 10th consecutive game with double figure points and the 26th game of her career in which she has scored in double figures.
• Devin Cosper reached double figures early in the third quarter. It is her 10th consecutive game with double figure points. Cosper has scored in double figures in 33 career games.
• Devin Cosper had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. It is her fifth double-double of the year (in 10 games) and the fifth of her career.
• Arkansas posted a season-best 61 rebounds. It is the fourth time in 10 games the Razorbacks have out-rebounded its opponents. It is the largest rebounding margin since the 2014-15 season.
• Jailyn Mason scored 11 points. It is her fifth game of the year in double figures and her fourth in a row. It is the 15th double-digit game of her career.
• Arkansas is 5-0 at home this year and have a +73 scoring margin against those opponents.

Up Next
The Razorbacks break from competition for final exams this week. Arkansas returns to the court hosting UT-Arlington, on Sunday, Dec. 17, followed by a road game at Arizona State on Dec. 21. The Razorbacks host Grambling State on Dec. 28 and open Southeastern Conference play with Ole Miss on Dec. 31.

Cosper, Monk on Hogs adapting in win over Tulsa on Sunday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

Arkansas’ Devin Cosper and Malica Monk talked with the media after the Razorbacks’ win on how the team adjusted to what was working for this one.

Mossman talks about team not playing well against Hogs

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

Tulsa coach Matilda Mossman started off with the media Sunday evening apologizing for how her team played in a 67-41 loss.

Morris lands first two commitments from Texas

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

Arkansas coach Chad Morris has landed a couple of recruits he previously had committed at SMU, according to various reports.

Magnolia, Texas, wide receiver Mike Woods (6-2, 190, 4.43) had multiple offers from schools around the country including Minnesota, Texas Tech, Colorado State, Iowa State and Houston.

Woods committed to SMU on Feb. 6.

As a senior, Woods caught 51 passes for 1,018 yards and 15 touchdowns. In his career, Woods has 155 receptions for 2,988 yards and 41 touchdowns.

Richard Davenport at WholeHogSports.com talked with Woods on Saturday:

His relationship with Morris and receivers coach Justin Stepp made his decision to be a Razorback easy.

“I chose to be a Razorback because Coach Morris and Coach Stepp were a big part of my decision at SMU,” Woods said. “When they decided to leave and said they would bring me with them that was that.”

Woods wasn’t the only former SMU commitment to agree to follow Morris to Fayetteville.

Offensive lineman Silas Robinson of Yoakum, Texas, (6-4, 315) chose Arkansas over others he had offers from and was drawing “strong interest” from folks such as Oklahoma State.

He was previously committed to SMU and decided to follow Morris to Fayetteville.

Davenport at WholeHogSports.com caught up with Robinson:

He said he wanted to be a Razorback because of Morris and offensive line coach Dustin Fry.

“I feel like there’s really nobody better than those two guys,” Robinson said. “I’m just fired up that I’m going to be with them and play for them. Ever since I met them, they’re great christian guys. I feel like they truly love their players. They don’t want to use you for football, they want to make you better person and make you be the best you can be.”

Stay tuned because Morris and his staff apparently are going fast making up for a late start.

1...1,6801,6811,682...1,811Page 1,681 of 1,811