Arkansas lands #1 Juco basketball player for 2006 class

[OrangeCrush]

Sonny Weems, a WF(6-6, 205) and rated the #1 juco prospect in the land has pledged his services to Arkansas today. Arkansas was able to keep a home-grown player in state as he picked the Hogs over the Vols.

Heath might not be the floor coach that Hogs fans envisoned when they brought him into the fold, but he has been a top notch recruiter and lack of talent will not be an excuse that can be used for the Razorbacks teams.

[jbuzbee]

The lack of talent excuse was viable every year Heath has been here until now....the team Heath inherited from Nolan Richardson was absolutely talent-less. When your best player is Dionisio Gomez....you got problems. But now the majority of the players are Heath's and the ones that aren't are experienced and tough. Heath has maintained all offseason that the best part about this team is that they FINALLY won't have to rely on freshman to do alot of things. The hogs have the best returning player in the SEC in Ronnie Brewer...an experienced scorer in Jonathan Modica and good young forwards in Darian Townes (who I thought was one of the top 2 freshmen in the league last year) and Charles Thomas. Erik Ferguson played extremely well for a guy being forced to play out of position....he was one of the top players in the league in assist to turnover ratio. I predict the hogs to finish first or second in the west with the real battle being with Alabama. The hogs have played them close in the past when Bama had a better team.

[Jay_Lupo]

Warning: this post turned into a book, so If you don't give a flip a/b Arkansas b-ball don't even attempt to read :) It'd be long and boring.

This is great news. We needed to get Sonny. This year's class, mostly b/c we didn't lose anybody last year but Jones and Famutimi, was Heath's worst class at the UA, excluding No.1. Last I saw, it was ranked 26 by somebody. Can't remember. Getting Weems virtually already assures of us of a top 25 class in 2006 and if Heath can land another good one or two - which, if you've been reading Otis Kirk's columns in the ADG, is a strong, strong possibility - we could find ourselves in the top 10.

Orange is right though, if Heath's proven anything, he's proven he can recruit. This year's team is 99.9% Heath's. Jonathon Modica committed to Nolan Richardson but never played for him. I think that's it. So there are NO more reasons for us not to be a top-25 caliber team.

But you're right too Buz, Heath was left with absolutely nothing. There's no question that the '02-'03 team ranks right up there with the worst team in Arkansas history. Nolan left him Modica. That's it. But Modica would've come to the UA regardless of who the coach was. The pain and suffering we had to endure during Heath's first two were completely understandable. He didn't have jack.

Last year's a different story, but in reality, it's only b/c of the way we finished up the season. Getting beat handily by a worse-than-bad Auburn team and getting destroyed by a pretty solid, but nonetheless, Tennessee team was pathetic and just cannot be acceptable.

On the other hand, We went down to the wire with Alabama - twice wasn't it? - Illinois, Kentucky, Miss. St., etc... And we beat a good LSU team twice. Oh ... wait a second, once. Remember Mike Jones' two-point 3-pointer at the end of regulation?

Anyway, we obviously improved but still didn't finish where I thought we could've. This year there are no more excuses. We're not young anymore. We're made up of senior and juniors primarily. The frontcourt is heavy on sophomores, but they're very, very experienced ones. Basically, there are no more excuses. I'll be satisfied with competing for a Western title and making the dance, but imo, there's no reason why this team shouldn't win the SEC West. Alabama, unquestionably, would offer the stiffest resistance. But you just can't lose two players like Shelton and Winston and not suffer some. You can't. They were too damn good. LSU should be good as well and Miss. St. had a great recruiting class this year, but I don't think they're capable of a title of any sort. The SEC, as a whole, lost a lot of players.

I know I've said it a bunch, but there are no more excuses!! The Hogs need to get back on the basketball map again. It's been 5 YEARS since we've been to the tourney for crying out loud. That right there my friends, makes me want to vommitt. I'm serious. That's disgusting and it's got to change. We grew up during the heyday, just going to the tourney was a given. It needs to be that way again or we gotta get rid of Heath. I like him though, and I truly beleive that this year is OUR year. We've got a super-talented team.

[WooHawg]

Yes no more excuses. That is great news on Weems.
http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=28352
If we add Washington into the mix as well. From what all I have heard on practice reports, everyone is looking pretty solid. But that is usually the word every year. Things should be on track this year with the experience some guys have now and hopefully some of the kinks worked out from last year.

[jbuzbee]

I'm ready to see Townes with a year of practice and workouts under his belt. He should average around a double-double every game. Brewer should be unstoppable again. And I think losing the underachieving Famutimi will be "addition by subtraction"....

[WooHawg]

The whole Famutimi thing, I am glad he is gone. That served as more of a distraction than anything else. Brewer is gonna do his thing this year, no doubt about that. Also I am hoping that Hill will get a few more looks and maybe have developed a few moves in the offseason. Modica needs to get off to a fast start this season. I think I am really pulling for Charles Thomas this year though.

[jbuzbee]

I have to say that I really don't like Steven Hill. I think he is such a liability. He is too soft. He has no post moves whatsoever. When he's on the court I feel like we only have four offensive players. And he's no banger....he only averaged around 2 rebounds a game last year. As much hype as we give him for his shot blocking....he's perpetually out of position on defense and God help us if he defends the best big man on the other team!! IMO

[Jay_Lupo]

I think you'll see more improvement out of Steven Hill than any one Razorback on the whole team, maybe with the exception of Jefferson, who I also expect to be leaps and bounds better than he was last year. Hill was a liability as a lanky freshman. Will he be a liability as a beefed up sophomore? I don't know, probabaly sometimes. But his shotblocking ability, along with Townes' ability to do the same, should give us the biggest post prescence in the league with the exception of Alabama. I think Townes will improve a lot as well, but hell, he didn't need to do too much. I'd almost be happy if he has the production he had last year.

Midnight Madness if Friday, isn't it? My dad said it was. I think he's going to Auburn, so he'll be up there for it. I'm really looking forward to b-ball. I'm ready to be good at something besides track again.

[jbuzbee]

Lupo....Lupo....Lupo....always the optimist. Hill blows, plain and simple and as badly as he blew last year, somehow Jefferson was worse. Those are two guys who really hold this team back. Hill doesn't have basketball skills and he's not aggressive enough for a big man. He needs to be tougher. Jefferson is too stupid to play the position of "court general". He ain't getting any smarter.

[Jay_Lupo]

You're too quick to throw in the towell Buz, and if I remember correctly, you've always had the same afinity for Steven Hill as some have had for HDN. Basically, you hate him. But there is such a thing as improvement, which you typically see from year one to year two, both of which, are the cases for Hill and Jefferson. In Harry King's column the other day, which you probably don't read b/c all you read is the ADG, he said Heath had really been talking DJ up and was expecting a big year from him. And Hill, though there were a ton of faults last year, has a big upside. He led the league in blocks for 3/4 of the season and finished 2nd despite playing an average of 12 minutes per game. If anything, he deserves floor time because of that. He'll get it too. I'm fully expecting Hill to be in the starting 5, barring a quick impact by Cyrus McGowan or an undeniable improvement by Thomas. I don't know what will happen with these two, but I know they'll play a lot and be better than they were last year. Remember, this aren't some last-second, fill in the blank guy like Kendrick Davis or somebody like that. These two were both major recruits, and they didn't get that way by accident. We'll have to see, but I'm expecting good things from them. All they need to do is be role players. We've got the scorers inside and out in Brewer, Townes and Modica. We just need them to play their part.

[jbuzbee]

I mean I saw the games last year.....Hill is a liability. He's slow and not aggressive....two things you can't learn. Yeah he blocked a lot of shots early in the season...when we were winning against Hartford and Petit Jean VoTech but I didn't see him block many shots in SEC games. I did see him leave someone wide open against Kentucky when he made an incorrect shift causing us to lose that game. He was a big recruit because of the fact that he is 7 feet tall....he has no basketball ability. I want his scholarship revoked. I'd rather have Kedrick Davis than him....at least Davis could score (you know he won several games for us). I hate Hill. I don't want him to see the court.

[Jay_Lupo]

You've proven my point :). You will hate him no matter what he does. I don't ever think he'll be an AA or something, but I do think that Hill has the ability to contribute to our basketball team. If for nothing else, his shot blocking ability. And he did do well against the cupcakes, but he wouldn't have stayed atop the league if he didn't do it in the SEC too. His minutes, and for good reason, dipped as the season went b/c of what you said: He's a defensive liability. But I'm sticking to my statement. I think you'll see a lot of improvement from Hill and jefferson. Plus we've got one of the best big-man coaches in the country in Thompson.

[WooHawg]

Hill will improve and not be a liability this year. If anything maybe his offense will be improved and he will do more than just get trash buckets. I disagree though, he can learn to be more aggressive. Lol jbuz, lets not yank his scholarship. He was just a freshman last year. Alot of his mistakes last year were just part of the learning process.

[Jay_Lupo]

Well said WooHawg. I'm ready for some b-ball man!!

[WooHawg]

Yeah I am starting to get ready for some bball too with this talk of some of the recruits and stuff. We know Townes and Brewer will do their thing. I still think Thomas is gonna be banging down low and show some good improvement. Not sure how much Hunter will be filling that same position now that he will be back. He reminds me of ol' Rosie Wallace a little.

[jbuzbee]

Sorry guys.....I still hate Hill. Its not hard to see when a guy is totally lost on the basketball court. I know that he's added some muscle weight this offseason and has been asserting his offensive game a little more....but that, in itself, scares me!! I don't want Hill "asserting himself offensively". Get it to the guys who know what to do with it. He was so bad last year that I don't think that any amount of improvement will make him worthy of PT. You guys will not sway me on this!! I'm gonna file him in the same category with Wen Mokubu, Larry Satchell (my boy...but not quite the B-ball player), Gomez, Davor Rimac, Jason Jennings....etc.

[WooHawg]

Oh man, I can't believe you are gonna put Rimac and Satchell in any kind of category. What about those 3's that Rimac would hit or the rebounds that Satchell would snag? Granted Satchell didn't quite live up to what I thought he would. And Gomez, I was frustrated with him for a while but his last year he came through at times even though his butterfingers will still there. Jason Jennings I could see but Hill has so much more talent than Jennings. I may be wrong on Hill but he will be developed the right way and show improvement this year.

[Jay_Lupo]

Yeah Buzbee, I should drive up to the Rock and slap ya for throwing Davor Rimac in that mix. He has no business in that group. The serb or whatever the hell he is was an intrical part of both the 94 championship team and the 95 runner-up team. Simply put, we wouldn't have been in the final 4 either of those years without Rimac. I'm shocked that you, an educated sports fan, could say something so ignorant.

But the other guys I totally agree with. God, Jason Jennings was awful. Wenbos Mukubu, lol. Horrible. Big Luuurry looked like an All-American, but played like ballerina that had just smoked a gigantic blunt before every game. Didn't you have a class with him when we lived at the PDT house? I'm sure he was a friggin genius.

And Buz, did you read the ADG today. It just affirmed what WooHawg and I have been trying to tell you about Hill.

Peace, and holler at me about that fantasy trade. We need to act, cuz I got something else lined up too that depends on it. I'll be covering football tonight untill 12, but holla. We need to do things.

[Chivas]

I saw Hill at the practice today, he still sucks.

[WooHawg]

I saw Hill at the practice today, he still sucks.


Lies!!!! All Lies!!

[jbuzbee]

Five minutes into the UCONN game and Steven Hill has two fouls (one offensive) and was badly out of position on his first time down on defense.....Lupo and WooHawg: this discussion is going to continue all season. Hill sucks. He's a seven foot liability.....now he just weighs more.

[WooHawg]

LOL jbuz, you couldn't resist. :) Did you see that little baby left hook though? That looked nice. He is coming along don't worry.

[WooHawg]

There is 2 more for Hill. Where you at Lupo? I need some help! :)