FAYETTEVILLE — A free first look at the University of Arkansas’ basketball teams awaits fans tonight.

John Pelphrey’s Razorbacksand Tom Collen’s Razorbacks formerly known as Lady Razorbacks both play Red-White games tonight with free admission at Walton Arena.

After a 6 p.m. autograph session for fans, Collen’s women tip off a brief 7:30 p.m. Red-White game with Pelphrey’s men tipping offat 8:45 p.m.

As of Wednesday, neither coach had divided their Red and White squads nor does either coach expect tonight toderive from the games anything but new players getting acquainted with a college game atmosphere.

“It’s not really quite a game,” Pelphrey said. “It’s a Red-White half. It gives our fans a chanceto get a look at the new guys and get a name with a face. As a coach, I don’t know how much stock I will take into it. Probably I’ll see more of a negative [rather than] something of ‘wow, we are really impressed.’ It won’t be a true scrimmage game.”From last season’s roster, which started 12-1 nonconference but went 2-15 for the SEC season and one-and-done in the SEC Tournament, Pelphrey’s roster returns sophomore guards Courtney Fortson, Rotnei Clarke and Forrest City High grad Marcus Britt, senior SEC rebound leading forward Michael Washington, sophomore forward Michael Sanchez, senior guard Stefan Welsh and returning walk-ons Stephen Cox and Nick Mason.

Newcomers include freshman forwards Marshawn Powell and Glen Bryant, JC transfer forwards Jemal Farmer and Delvon Johnson and freshman guard Julysses Nobles.

Asked who among the newcomers seems most ready to help, Pelphrey replied: “We haven’t seen enough to figure that out yet. All those guys have had some very good moments. They try, but they haven’t been through something like this.”

Collen said it’s time his roster go through this, too.

“We just need to get out there in front of people and play,” Collen said. “We’ve got a lot of youngkids that have never experienced that. We haven’t had a lot of five-on-five for extended periods of time. We’ll do a couple of transitions and stop and teach. Today was the first day we went through more than four minutes at a time.”

Returnees are led by sophomore Preseason Second-team All-SEC guard Ceira Ricketts, senior Charity Ford, the 2008-09 SEC sixthwoman of the Year, and sophomore guard Lyndsay Harris, the 2008-2009 SEC Sixth Woman of the Year. Also returning are Brittney Richardson, a junior guard and Mountain Home High alum, sophomore forward Ashley Daniels, guard Julie Inman of Carlisle, senior post Ashley McCray, and 6-2 for wards Jamesha Townsend, a sophomore, and Ashley Williams, a junior.

Newcomers include freshman guard Kristen Gillespie, 6-3 junior college transfer post Skye Rees, freshman post players Sarah Watkins and Quistelle Williams.

Williams and Watkins are both nursing injuries and are not expected to play.

Sports, Pages 8 on 10/23/2009

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