Gators have “a lot coming back” at wide receiver and tight end positions and working on getting defense straightened out.
SEC MEDIA DAYS 2021: Florida defensive lineman Zachary Carter
Gators’ defense took big step forward in spring working to fix some things that were problems last season.
SEC MEDIA DAYS 2021: Florida linebacker Ventrell Miller
Gators coming into season with a chip on their shoulder after disappointing end last year.
Wolfenbarger gets spot on World Cup USA under-19 team
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Jersey Wolfenbarger is one of 12 players headed to Debrecen, Hungary for the FIBA U19 World Cup, USA Basketball announced Monday.
Wolfenbarger, along with Amari DeBerry and Lauren Ware, were the final three athletes to earn their spots on the team, which will open training camp on Wednesday, July 21, at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C.
The team will be coached by Cori Close, Aaron Johnston and Joni Taylor. The selection committee, led by Jennifer Rizzotti, Tonya Cardoza, Kara Lawson and Wes Moore, put together the 12-member team.
“Let’s put this into perspective,” Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors said. “Over half of NCAA freshmen were eligible for selection. 90 percent of incoming freshman from all 50 states were eligible for selection.
“After a comprehensive tryout process, Jersey earned one of only 12 spots on the team that will represent the United States in the U19 World Cup. Let that sink in. We are all so proud of Jersey. It’s going to be fun following her and the team as they go for gold.”
The accolades continue to roll in for Wolfenbarger, who will debut for the Hogs this fall.
Wolfenbarger was also named Arkansas’ first McDonald’s All-American signee since 2016, while garnering Arkansas player of the year honors from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Max Preps and the Arkansas Basketball Coaches Association.
Wolfenbarger, the No. 7 overall player and top-ranked wing in ESPN’s HoopGurlz 2021 recruiting rankings, is one of six players set to start their freshman seasons this fall.
The awards are not hollow, though, as Wolfenbarger impacted winning during her illustrious high school career.
She is coming off her second state title with Northside High School, as she led the Grizzlies to a 26-2 record and a Class 6A State Championship in 2020-21. She averaged 19.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.7 blocks per game during her final high school campaign.
Featuring U19 teams from 16 nations, the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup is scheduled to be held Aug. 7-19 in Debrecen, Hungary.
In addition to the USA and host Hungary, teams that will take part in this summer’s U19 World Cup include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Italy, Japan, Mali, Russia, South Korea and Spain.
FIBA held the draw to determine preliminary round groups for the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup on April 28, and the USA was drawn into Group A, alongside Australia, Egypt and Italy for the Aug. 7-10 preliminary round.
The USA will open play against Italy on Aug. 7, followed by Australia on Aug. 8 and cap preliminary play against Egypt on Aug. 10. Times will be announced by FIBA at a later date.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
SEC MEDIA DAYS 2021: Tom Murphy, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Looking at the Razorbacks’ season along with previewing Media Days with Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft on The Morning Rush.
SEC MEDIA DAYS 2021: Chris Gordy of Locked On SEC podcast
LSU may be hardest team to predict, he says on The Morning Rush with Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft on ESPN Arkansas.
SEC MEDIA DAYS 2021: Brett Norsworthy, Sports 56, Memphis
One of the longtime voices in the SEC media with Tye Richardson, Tommy Craft on The Morning Rush on ESPN Arkansas.
BUD LIGHT SELTZER MORNING RUSH PODCAST: First Day of SEC Media Days
Tye & Tommy are live from SEC Media Days! Joined by Tom Murphy, Brett Norsworthy & Chris Gordy.
Three Razorbacks named to major awards’ watch lists
Three of college football’s best are Arkansas Razorbacks.
Defensive back Jalen Catalon and linebacker Grant Morgan were named to the watch list for the 27th Chuck Bednarik Award, while wide receiver Treylon Burks earned a spot on the watch list for the 85th Maxwell Award.
The Maxwell Football Club announced its watch lists for both the Bednarik Award, given to the most outstanding defensive player in college football, and the Maxwell Award, presented to the most outstanding player in college football, Monday morning.
Arkansas is one of 11 schools with two student-athletes on the Bednarik watch list, which consists of 90 candidates overall. The Maxwell watch list, meanwhile, includes 80 players.
Catalon was tabbed to the All-SEC First Team by the AP and named a Freshman All-American by the FWAA last season after logging 99 total tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, three interceptions, four pass break-ups, one fumble recovery and two forced fumbles as a redshirt freshman.
He is the first Razorback defensive back to earn All-SEC honors from the league’s coaches since Michael Grant (2007).
Morgan was one of the best players in all of college football last year after producing one of the greatest seasons in Arkansas history.
He was named a Walter Camp and AFCA Second Team All-American at the year’s end, posted a team-best 111 total tackles, including 7.5 for loss, with 2.0 sacks in 2020.
The linebacker finished tied for the nation’s lead in tackles per game (12.3) while intercepting one pass, breaking up five and registering one quarterback hurry.
Originally a walk-on, Morgan joined Martrell Spaight (2014) as the only two Razorback defenders to garner both AP and Coaches All-SEC recognition in the last 10 seasons.
Burks led the Razorbacks in catches last season, hauling in 51 passes for 820 yards and seven touchdowns.
He finished third in the SEC in receiving yards per game (91.1) and fifth in total receiving yards, logging six games of 90+ receiving yards and four games of 100+ receiving yards as a true sophomore.
Burks earned second-team All-SEC honors after the 2020 campaign and was one of only two FBS receivers to log 800+ receiving yards and 70+ rushing yards on the year.
Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced Nov. 1, 2021, while the three finalists for the Maxwell Award will be unveiled Nov. 22, 2021.
The winners of the 2021 Maxwell and Bednarik Awards will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on Dec. 9, 2021.
The formal presentations of the Maxwell Award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Tropicana Hotel & Casino Atlantic City on March 11, 2022.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
Does Sankey have guts to address SEC joining NCAA breakaway?
With SEC Media Daze starting Monday morning, Greg Sankey will be one of the first in front of the microphones and the elephant in the room is going to be the NIL stuff.
Make no mistake about it, but every person there is going to be queried about it.
The more important question, though, is whether there will be a breakaway by the biggest schools in college athletics and do their own thing.
The NCAA likely would breathe a sigh of relief. Any resistance would be for show. In an institution that has been functioning like a kangaroo court for the last 50 years, they have been hanging on by a mythical thread for a few years.
Football was gone in 2014. When the College Football Playoff started, what was left after the BCS disappeared along with any realistic control the NCAA had left.
CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd asked the same question I’ve had for awhile in a column Sunday.
“”The NCAA is imploding and in retreat because of actual and potential litigation, Congressional and state intervention and public antipathy,” Tom McMillen said in the story.
He should know. The former Congressman, Olympian, pro basketball player and head of the Lead1, an organization representing FBS athletic directors, and if you want to start looking for leaders of a breakaway group he would be in the conversation.
What is almost a foregone conclusion now is the commissioners of the Power 5 conferences along with Notre Dame will control college athletics and every sport may have it’s own governing body sooner rather than later. The CFP has shown that works out fairly well … financially and competitively.
It’s about time, really.
Exactly why schools like Little Rock, Arkansas-Pine Bluff or Central Arkansas vote on the exact same issues as the UA-Fayetteville has always escaped logic to me. They have completely different financial pictures.
Now that the NCAA has finally conceded publicly they have no interest in continued pursuit of schools that have ticked them off, the door is open to the Power 5 taking advantage of the opportunity to finally get away, make their own rules and it will be too expensive for the non-Power 5 to keep up.
Forget about fair. Things aren’t even equitable in all sports, including the SEC. Arkansas has been there for 30 years and hasn’t won a conference football title yet. The Hogs did win the West twice (no, they didn’t win the division outright in 2002, backing into the title game because Alabama wasn’t eligible).
No, forget about asking Sankey about the NIL. He’ll give some wandering answer that will be politically correct for all sides because there’s not another viable option. Nobody knows what rules can even be enforced.
The big question is if the SEC is going to join a break away from the NCAA by the big boys.
Of course that’s assuming it hasn’t already been discussed.
And if the commissioner has the guts to answer it honestly.
Aggies kick chaos into high gear with pair getting $10k media deals
It has taken about a month for things to begin falling into the abyss of chaos and there’s nothing the NCAA can do about it if they wanted to.
TexAgs.com has signed running back Isaiah Spiller and safety Demani Richardson to $10,000 each for exclusive interviews in a deal sponsored by a real estate company.
“We’re excited about the ways the NIL changes will allow us to feature Texas A&M athletes, continue to push into new areas of content creation for our subscribers and expand our work with sponsors,” said Billy Liucci, co-owner and executive editor of TexAgs, to ESPN.
A Texas A&M spokesperson did not have an immediate response.
Probably because now they’re trying to figure out how the sports information department and school can retain a sliver of control over what the player can say, when they say and to whom they are talking.
TexAgs, the fourth-largest football website in the country behind the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys sites, wasted little time getting the first return on their investment Friday talking with Spiller. They have over 400,000 unique visitors monthly and 32 million page views a month.
They are an independently owned company not affiliated with Texas A&M.
Get ready because this is the tip of what is going to be complete chaos. The NCAA can’t enforce the rules they have now and, suddenly, college players are going to be able to make deals like professional players.
With no rules.
Some players will basically be trading food or merchandise for their name, image and likeness. Others will be going for the cash. No complaints about either the players or the companies doing any of it.
Again, there are no rules, so go for it. The schools may try to control it or regulate it, but that’s going to sail out the window the first time they say no and the player snags a lawyer and makes things way more interesting.
There will be talking heads up in arms over all of this … mainly because they don’t have the players talking exclusively with them. Columns will be written about how bad all of this is for college athletics.
Don’t worry about that. Many in the media complain every time something changes, mainly because it is, well, change. A lot of media types don’t like that a whole lot.
The ones who are trying to figure it out every day are the schools. They will do interviews and talk about how they have this guideline or have to say yes or no, which is about all they can do right now.
But the truth is they don’t really have a clue.
Neither do the lawyers, who are ultimately going to make the most money out of all this.
