FAYETTEVILLE — Nolan Richardson stood in the hallway in New Orleans Arena last week, offering his support for Arkansas as it left the locker room following the 70-54 loss to LSU in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
He told players to keep their heads up. He told coaches to keep working. Then, Richardson said he was impressed with the work first-year coach Mike Anderson has done.
“If there’s a coach of the year, he ought to be the coach of the world,” Richardson said. “You’ve got to build hope. I think that’s what Mike was able to do.”
Richardson’s rousing support is no surprise, considering the relationship between the two. But the former Arkansas coach later emphasized one other point: the Razorbacks have 18 wins. All he could manage as Arkansas’ first-year coach was 12 wins in 1985-86.
Arkansas, of course, is still clinging to hopes it could add more when the 32-team National Invitation Tournament field is announced after the NCAA Tournament’s selection show tonight. But playing in the NIT — or the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) — is not likely after the Hogs faded down the stretch.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
If it holds true, Arkansas will finish with 18 wins for the second straight season. The Razorbacks also would miss the postseason for the fourth straight season.
But that disappointing fact didn’t deter Anderson after his team’s quick exit from the SEC Tournament.
“I think given what’s taken place, I think there’s hope again with our basketball team,” Anderson said.
It’s well-known Arkansas has been short-handed all season, playing with nine scholarship players after transfers and Marshawn Powell’s knee injury.
The thin numbers didn’t affect Arkansas early on, when the Razorbacks reeled off impressive January home wins against Mississippi State, Michigan and Vanderbilt.
But Arkansas couldn’t sustain the pace in Anderson’s up-tempo system, losing eight of 10 games. Six of Arkansas’ past seven losses were by 10 or more points.
Naturally, Anderson isn’t happy with the way the Razorbacks have closed the season. But changing it will be the goal as Arkansas looks toward the future.
“I guess what I’m disappointed in more than anything else is that we couldn’t get them over the hump in terms of going down the stretch, which is typically when our teams play well,” Anderson said.
“With that being said, maybe it was the fact they probably ran out of gas. We had less players.”
Arkansas should be closer to full strength next season, barring any unforeseen transfers or departures.
Senior forwards Michael Sanchez and Marvell Waithe will be gone. But three incoming freshmen will join the returning seven scholarship players. Oklahoma State transfer Fred Gulley will be eligible to play games after the fall. Quarterback Brandon Mitchell and new wide receiver MeKale McKay could also join the basketball team as walk-ons after the football season.
The biggest impact should be Powell’s return. He averaged 19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in two games before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament. If he’s healthy, Powell will give Arkansas the offensive presence in the paint it was sorely lacking this season.
Even if Arkansas’ season does, officially, end when the tournament fields are filled tonight, Anderson still will finish with the third-most wins for a first-year coach in school history. Only John Pelphrey (23 in 2007-08) and Eugene Lambert (19 in 1942-43) have more.