Arkansas’ freshmen growing up on the job
Mike Anderson’s first job as Arkansas’ coach last March was to
keep the school’s heralded recruiting class together.
Little did Anderson know at the time just how important that
class would prove this season – and likely in the future for the
Razorbacks.
Arkansas (16-7, 4-4 Southeastern Conference) has yet to lose in
Bud Walton Arena this season and is sixth in the SEC race at the
midway point of conference play. It has wins over three ranked
teams entering its game at Georgia (10-12, 1-7) on Wednesday and
leads the league in turnovers forced (17.3) per game.
The success has been a refreshing change for a program that
hasn’t reached the NCAA tournament in four years.
By choice or by force, the Razorbacks have found their way with
four freshmen forming the core – and often leading the way – in the
first season under Anderson, who replaced the fired John
Pelphrey.
The freshmen (BJ Young, Hunter Mickelson, Devonta Abron and Ky
Madden) combined are averaging nearly 32 points, 15.2 rebounds and
3.4 steals per game. More important, they have provided fresh legs
for an Arkansas team that entered the season with only 10
scholarship players.
And, as Anderson points out, they’re just getting started.
”There is so much room to grow with this basketball team,”
Anderson said. ”As we speak right now … when this is over,
they’re going to continue to change before your eyes. Going through
what they are going through now right now can only, hopefully,
benefit them.”
Anderson did his best to downplay the freshmen’s impact before
the season, but there was no denying their significance once the
games started. Their impact only grew after the team’s leading
returning scorer from last season, Marshawn Powell, was lost for
the season with a knee injury after the second game.
Powell averaged 19.5 points in those two games, leaving a void
in scoring and leadership. Combined with the loss of senior Marvell
Waithe with a calf injury in recent weeks, and Arkansas’ four
freshmen have made up exactly half of its eight scholarship
players.
Anderson wanted the group to have the opportunity to blend in
and develop at a slower pace, but he’s excited about what he has
seen.
”Well, they’ve been thrown into the fire, so now they’ve been
learning on the job and it just tells you what kind of people, what
kind of players they are,” Anderson said. ”You look at their
future: They’ve got a chance to have some bright futures.”
Young has been the leading scorer in Powell’s absence, averaging
13.8 points and shooting nearly 50 percent off the bench. The guard
scored a season-high 28 points in a loss at Connecticut on Dec. 3,
and his explosive first step has proven the equal of just about any
other guard in the SEC.
The 6-foot-10 Mickelson is fourth in the SEC with an average of
2.5 blocks per game. He needs only three to tie the school’s
freshmen record of 60, set by Oliver Miller during the 1988-89
season.
”I don’t really feel like a freshman anymore,” Young said. ”I
never really did, because (of) as much as we’ve been playing.”
Young’s early progress hasn’t come without setbacks. He was held
to only three points in a disappointing loss at LSU on Saturday,
his lowest scoring output since a two-point effort in the
opener.
The loss kept Arkansas winless away from Fayetteville this
season, though they’ve stayed close until the final minutes in
their last two losses. They’ve also continued to receive plenty of
praise from opposing coaches, particularly the freshmen.
”I think it’s just a matter of maturing,” Georgia coach Mark
Fox said. ”I think it will come. I just hope it doesn’t come in
the middle of this week.”
Pelphrey signed the class before his firing, but Anderson had to
work to keep them on board following his arrival from Missouri in
March. That effort has paid off this season and will likely do the
same in the future.
”We’re still young, still kind of figuring it out,” Mickelson
said. ”Coach Anderson, he’s kind of laid it down on what we need
to be doing, but we’re going to mold into that with time. I think
we’re just going to keep working hard and getting better.”