More to come? : Basketball could still be in the future of exiting Hog seniors
Posted on Friday, March 28, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Sports/63584/
All six University of Arkansas seniors exiting this Razorback basketball team could be turning pro in something in sports.
Their own sport.
Give Stan Heath “ a lot of credit for bringing those young men here, ” first-year Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said of his coaching predecessor during Pelphrey’s season wrap-up press conference Thursday.
Seniors Sonny Weems, Darian Townes, Steven Hill, Gary Ervin, Charles Thomas and Vincent Hunter all played key roles in Pelphrey’s 23-12 Razorbacks becoming Arkansas’ first team to win both 23 games and an NCAA Tournament game since Nolan Richardson’s 1999 Razorbacks.
Their basketball days don’t necessarily cease with beating Indiana and then losing to national top seed North Carolina last Friday and Sunday at the NCAA East Regional in Raleigh, N. C.
Now perhaps not many, maybe not any, are apt to end up in the NBA, though team-scoring leader Weems and big men Hill, the 7-foot shot-blocker, and Townes, the 6-10 scorer, sure seem ripe to get opportunities.
But even if the NBA doesn’t come their way, there are venues stateside and especially across the ocean within their grasp.
“ I wouldn’t be surprised at all if that happens, ” Pelphrey said. “ They all have a level of talent. They all are uniquely different. ”
As are the venues.
“ The good thing is there are a lot of different places to play now, ” Pelphrey said. “ It used to be the NBA was THE place and there weren’t very many spots overseas in terms of Americans per team. It was usually just one guy. Now you can have at least three on a team.
“ And you’ve got some other leagues where guys are able to play. I wouldn’t be surprised if those guys are able to extend their careers a little bit. ”
Pelphrey talked individually about the seniors Thursday. Most, you’ve heard before.
The exception, the new stuff, concerned Gary Ervin. Ervin’s rollercoaster five-year career at Mississippi State then Arkansas always kept Pelphrey restrained discussing his point guard much with media.
Now it’s all over but the praising. Ervin closed his SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament postseason with 25 assists vs. 13 turnovers and stepped up his game in all phases.
“ Gary Ervin may have made the most progress of all of them, ” Pelphrey said, smiling. “ He may have had farther to go too, but I am very, very appreciative of Gary and the progress he made. Gary, whether he liked it or not, tried to do what I wanted him to do and get everybody else on the same page. To the bitter end, I felt he allowed us to coach him. That’s something I found great value in. ”
Pelphrey said all leave creating unique memories. Weems for his 31 points against Indiana among big moments too numerous to mention.
Townes for one of the all-time statistically better 4-year Razorback careers. Hill for his shot-blocks and of course the shot that beat SEC champion Tennessee in the SEC Tournament semifinals. Thomas for his monster game against Tennessee in that semifinal. Ervin as mentioned, and Hunter, for intangibly trying to give the most even as he played the least.
“ I could not be more surprised that [Hunter ] would be the leader and the heartbeat of our basketball team, ” Pelphrey said. “ That’s pretty cool for a guy to care about everybody else on the basketball team more than he thinks about himself. ”
As a class under Heath then Pelphrey, this crew gradually turned around a mighty program fallen on hard times with the volatile exit of Nolan Richardson, the Hogs’ winningest coach.
They leave a legacy of three straight NCAA Tournament appearances for a program left out of the Big Dance from 2002-2004 and of course bestow that first NCAA Tournament triumph since 1999.
Even as the seniors exit scoring 73 percent of the points, gathering 60 percent of the rebounds, making 64 percent of the steals, dealing 54 percent of the assists and blocking 70 percent of the shots for their final team, they have so restored expectations that Pelphrey was asked if he expected Arkansas to be in tune with next year’s Big Dance.
“ Well, certainly I think that’s my mindset, ” Pelphrey said. “ I don’t know if we’re going to be more talented next year. We’re certainly not going to be more experienced. But yeah, when we start working out that’s going to be our mindset. ”
Does Pelphrey think it will be a realistic goal ?
He paused.
“ Whether it is or not, that’s the goal, ” Pelphrey said. “ If it’s not realistic, then we need to overachieve and make it realistic. ”
Thanks to what these old seniors left and the new coach brings, Arkansas basketball is back to expecting the best.