Height is one thing that can’t be coached.
Jersey Wolfenbarger has gained nearly a foot of that pretty quickly and Mike Neighbors probably landed what could be the most intriguing player in program history this week.
There haven’t been a lot of 6-foot-5 guards in Arkansas women’s basketball history.
And Neighbors offered her when she was 5-foot-6.
“He offered me when I was 5-6 and all I had was my work ethic,” she told Phil Elson, Matt Jenkins and Matt Travis (Halftime) on ESPN Arkansas Thursday. “He’s a worker himself and I really appreciate that.”
She also blew the guys away and left Elson shaking his head when he asked if she could dunk the basketball.
“I can dunk a smaller basketball pretty easily,” she said. “I can two-foot dunk a tennis ball.”
That hasn’t happened often for the Razorbacks.
But she’s also working on playing with her back to the basket for certain situations.
“It’s all about matchups,” Wolfenbarger said. “I’m working on some post moves, but it’s not my main focus right now. I am a guard. When I get smaller guards on me more efficient to score with my back to the basket.”
Her commitment was something she was leaning towards but confirmed it after talking to some people … and most of it was about Neighbors.
“It’s all about timing,” Wolfenbarger said. “I knew, but you have to gain as much information as possible about anything to be 100 percent. I was able to talk to some people about coach Neighbors’ style and as much info as I could. I came home from a workout and knew where I wanted to go. My mom was fully on board.”
It was those talks that sealed the deal.
“They really helped me understand,” she said. “They all said the same thing to me that “you will love playing for coach Neighbors.” It really stuck with me. He empowers people and I wanted to be a part of that.”
And she will be in 2021, but first she’s looking forward to her senior year with the Grizzlies.
“It’s our last go-around,” she said. “It’s more about being consistent on both ends of the floor. Our defense could have been better last year.”
