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Arkansas Basketball: Arkansas Razorbacks 2015-16 Season Preview

By Bryce Bennett

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Arkansas Razorbacks

2014-2015 Record: 27-9 (13-5, SEC)
Postseason: NCAA Tournament – Third Round

It would be hard to find another team in the country, much less the SEC, that had a tougher off-season than the Arkansas Razorbacks.

The surprises started when guard Michael Qualls declared for the NBA draft. It was expected that star forward Bobby Portis was destined to go, but coach Mike Anderson hoped Qualls would return for the 2015-16 season.

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That wasn’t to be, and Qualls went undrafted but was later picked up by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Next, was the saga of former recruit Ted Kapita.

Kapita, a 6’8″ PF and the 53rd ranked player in the country for 2015, failed to qualify for school and then decided to go play overseas.

To make matters worse, Arkansas had three returners face felony forgery charges in July. It caused Jacorey Williams to leave the program while Anton Beard and Dustin Thomas are currently suspended indefinitely.

All of this adds up to a lot of question marks for the Hogs this season. The team will be inexperienced and lacking in scoring. Programs and coaches hate to use the word “re-build”, but this is exactly the position of Arkansas this season.

 Newcomers

G – Jimmy Whitt (#55 Rivals)
G – Dusty Hannahs – (transfer from Texas Tech)
F – Lorenzo Jenkins

Key Non-Conference Games

Nov. 26 – 27 NIT Season Tip-Off (Georgia Tech and Stanford/Villanova) – A quick look at Arkansas’ progress will come early in the season at Madison Square Garden. A winnable game will come first against Georgia Tech (12-19, 3-15 ACC).

The Yellow Jackets averaged 13 turnovers a game last season and are projected to struggle this season. A win here using the signature “40 Minutes of Hell”-style can only mean momentum for the young Hogs.

A second round match-up will await against a ranked Villanova team will be tough to overcome.

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    • Dec. 30 at Dayton – Props to Arkansas for scheduling this type of game. Power conference opponents going on the road to face a quality mid-major programs is always fun.

    The Flyers will try to slow down the game, rebound and force the Razorbacks into contested shots. This will be another difficult game for Arkansas. A victory here will mean definitive progress for the Hogs and a potential sign of good things to come in the SEC.

    Key Players

    Anthlon Bell – The leading returning scorer (7.9 ppg.) will have a tough task in carrying the scoring load for the Razorbacks this season. To do this, Bell will need to improve consistency in scoring. He scored 0 points in six games last season. For Arkansas to be competitive, he will probably need to nearly double his scoring average this season. I am not sure he is in that type of position.

    Moses Kingsley – Size is a huge issue for Arkansas this season. Moses, along with center Willy Koussai, will be asked to defend the rim, rebound and pick-up the scoring load. It will be a season of growing up for the sophomore. One that will test him, but mean good things for the program while he is an upperclassman.

    Season Outlook

    Arkansas is going to struggle this season. There is simply too much production to replace and the off-court issues do not help either. Expect the Razorbacks to be near the bottom of the SEC winning between 12 – 15 games.

    Next: Texas A&M Aggies 2015-16 Season Preview

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